m 


FRENCH   SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


AN  ACCOUNT  OF  THE  ORIGIN,  DEVELOPMENT 

AND   PRESENT   ORGANIZATION   OF 

SECONDARY  EDUCATION 

IN   FRANCE 


BY 


f 


FREDERIC  ERNEST  FARRINGTON,  Ph.D. 

li 

,  ASSOCIATE    PROFESSOR   OF   EDUCATION,    TEACHERS   COLLEGE,    COLUMBIA    UNI- 
VERSITY;   LECTURER   ON   EDUCATION,    YALE   UNIVERSITY;    AUTHOR 
OF    "THE   TUBLIC    PRIMARY   SCHOOL   SYSTEM   OF   FRANCE," 
"COMMERCIAL   EDUCATION   IN   GERMANY,"    ETC. 


SECOND   EDITION 


LONGMANS,    GREEN,    AND    CO. 

FOURTH   AVENUE    &   30TH  STREET,   NEW   YORK 

LONDON,  BOMBAY,   CALCUTTA  AND  MADRAS 

1915 


4 


^\5 


Copyright,  1910 
By  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co. 


First  edition,  April,  1910. 
Revised  August,  1915. 


THE   UNIVERSITY   PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,   U.S.A. 


TO    MY    WIFE 


355223 


PKEFACE 

This  volume  is  offered  to  the  public  with  the  hope  of 
affording  a  source  of  information  which  shall  satisfy  the 
inquiries  that  are  becoming  more  and  more  frequent  as  to 
the  progress  of  education  in  France.  For  more  than 
seventy-five  years  Germany  has  been  frequented  by  Ameri- 
can scholars  in  the  effort  to  gain  new  light  toward  the 
solution  of  some  of  the  vexing  educational  problems  that 
have  confronted  us.  It  is  an  open  question  whether  or  not 
in  the  early  days  France  had  anything  worth  while  in  her 
educational  system  to  repay  the  trouble  of  making  an  ex- 
tended study  of  the  conditions  in  that  country.  Since  the 
Franco-Prussian  war,  however,  she  has  been  quietly  and 
unostentatiously  forging  to  the  fore,  so  that  to-day  she  is 
fairly  among  the  very  leaders.  The  progress  that  she  has 
made  during  the  last  thirty  years  is  quite  without  a  parallel 
within  the  same  length  of  time  in  the  educational  history  of 
the  world.  To  be  sure,  the  most  striking  advance  has  been 
registered  in  the  fields  of  primary  and  industrial  education, 
but  the  development  in  the  domain  of  secondary  education 
is  likely  to  have  an  only  less  significant  effect  upon  the 
intellectual  progress  of  the  nation. 

This  study  is  confined  to  the  field  of  the  state  secondary 
schools.  The  reader  will  therefore  look  in  vain,  for  instance, 
for  any  discussion  of  the  law  of  separation  that  has  been 
such  a  prominent  subject  of  consideration  during  the  last 
few  years.  This  whole  question  is  a  purely  religious  one, 
and  affects  public  education  only  very  indirectly.  As  has 
been  pointed  out  in  the  text,  there  has  really  been  no  sudden 
uprising  against  the  church.     The  beginning  of  this  change 


viii  PREFACE 

of  heart  even  antedates  the  reign  of  Henry  IV.  Ever  since 
that  time  the  lay  element  has  been  quietly  transferring 
influence  from  the  church  side  of  the  balance,  but  it  was  not 
until  the  period  of  the  Third  Eepublic  that  this  change  had 
become  sufficient  to  move  the  scale  beam  from  its  time- 
honored  position.  Now  clerical  influence  has  been  definitely 
and  finally  banished  from  the  dominant  place  it  once  occu- 
pied in  the  public  school  system. 

The  material  herein  presented  was  gathered  during  a 
year's  stay  in  Paris,  partly  through  culling  over  a  mass  of 
miscellaneous  documents  and  other  printed  matter  (for  the 
French  have  no  complete  account  of  their  own  secondary 
school  system  that  might  have  served  as  a  point  of  de- 
parture), but  largely  through  first-hand  contact  with  the 
schools  themselves  —  personal  interviews  with  head  masters 
and  censors,  visits  to  class  rooms  in  Paris  and  in  the  pro- 
vincial lycdes  and  colleges,  and  numerous  conversations  both 
in  and  out  of  school  with  educational  workers  of  all  grades 
that  were  in  closest  touch  with  the  secondary  school  con- 
ditions in  France  to-day.  Every  effort  has  been  made  to  get 
as  comprehensive  a  view  as  possible  of  the  actual  workings 
of  the  secondary  schools,  lyce'es  and  colleges  both  for  boys 
and  girls,  in  the  provinces  no  less  than  in  the  capital.  To 
this  end,  after  attending  more  than  one  hundred  classes  in 
Paris  itself,  visits  were  made  to  the  schools  in  Armentieres, 
Auxerre,  Beaune,  Dijon,  Fontainbleau,  Lille,  Saint-Quentin, 
and  Sens,  and  finally  to  the  higher  normal  schools  for  men 
in  Paris,  and  for  women  at  Sevres. 

If  there  be  anything  here  to  offend  the  casual  French 
reader  who  may  chance  upon  these  pages,  I  shall  regret 
exceedingly  to  seem  thus  ungraciously  to  repay  all  the  mani 
fold  kindnesses  I  have  received  in  the  fair  land  of  France. 
I  have  attempted  to  set  forth  conditions  as  they  appear  from 
the  American  standpoint,  commending  here,  perhaps  com- 
menting upon  adversely  there,   but   in  no  case  necessarily 


PREFACE  ix 

questioning  the  wisdom  of  the  practice  or  condition  from  the 
French  point  of  view.  Throughout  it  all,  I  have  attempted 
to  play  the  part  of  the  sympathetic  critic. 

It  is  a  great  pleasure  once  more  to  bear  witness  to  the 
rare  courtesy  that  has  universally  been  extended  to  me,  and 
to  a  patience  and  consideration  far  in  excess  of  what  the 
poor  attempts  of  a  sometimes  bothersome  and  persistent 
foreigner  who  speaks  the  language  but  indifferently  well 
would  appear  to  merit.  The  list  would  be  long  indeed,  if  I 
should  attempt  to  mention  on  this  page  the  names  of  all  to 
whom  I  am  under  obligation.  I  desire  at  this  time,  how- 
ever, to  express  my  especial  appreciation  to  M.  Gautier, 
Directeur  de  V Enseignement  secondaire,  M.  Liard,  Vice^recteur 
de  VAcademie  de  Paris,  M.  Lyon,  Recteur  de  VAcademie  de 
Lille-;  M.  Boirac,  Recteur  de  VAcademie  de  Dijon,  for  author- 
izations to  visit  the  schools  within  their  jurisdictions;  to  my 
old  friends  M.  Dr.  Philippe,  Chef  des  travaux  au  Zaboratoire 
de  psychologie  physiologique  de  la  Sorbonne,  and  M.  Picavet, 
Secretaire  du  College  de  France,  et  Redacteur  en  chef  de  la 
Revue  Internationale  de  V enseignement,  the  former  for 
valuable  material  on  the  recent  developments  in  gymnastic 
instruction,  and  the  latter  for  many  helpful  suggestions,  and 
much  good  counsel  as  to  schools  to  visit,  to  say  nothing  of 
numerous  personal  letters  that  constantly  smoothed  the  way. 
I  am  further  under  obligation  to  Dr.  Benedict,  my  colleague 
at  the  University  of  Texas,  for  much  patient  reading  of 
manuscript.  Finally,  the  sane  counsel,  wise  judgment,  and 
indefatigable  aid  of  my  wife  have  been  a  perennial  source  of 
encouragement  and  inspiration. 

FREDERIC   ERNEST  FARRINGTON. 

Austin,  Texas,  October  1,  1909. 


PREFACE  TO  THE  SECOND  EDITION 

This  new  edition  of  French  Secondary  Schools  affords  oppor- 
tunity for  correcting  a  few  errors  which  have  come  to  the 
author's  attention.  Although  the  program  now  in  force 
differs  in  some  particulars  from  that  represented  by  the  re- 
form of  1902,  the  fundamental  principles  of  that  sweeping 
reform  have  stood  the  test  of  experience.  Inasmuch  as  these 
were  set  forth  with  considerable  detail  in  the  original  text, 
it  has  seemed  best  to  leave  those  pages  untouched  and  to 
give  in  a  new  appendix  the  complete  program  which  went 
into  effect  in  October,  1913.  The  few  insignificant  modi- 
fications in  the  program  of  the  girls'  schools  have  been  incor- 
porated in  the  body  of  the  work.  Here  also  are  to  be  found 
the  important  changes  in  salary  schedule,  fees  in  boys' 
schools,  and  subjects  of  the  baccalaureate  examination,  as 
well  as  other  changes  of  less  moment. 

FREDERIC  ERNEST  FARRINGTON. 

New  Youk  City,  June  25,  1915. 


CONTENTS 

Chapter  Page 

I.   The  First  Revival  op  Learning 1 

II.   The  Second  Revival  of  Learning.  Scholasticism  16 

III.  The  Renaissance  to  the  Revolution    ....  31 

IV.  The  Revolution  and  the  Progress  of  the  Nine- 

teenth Century 59 

V.   The    Administrative    Organization    of    the 

Secondary  School  System 84 

VI.   The  Administration  and  the  Teaching  Force 

of  the  Schools 103 

VII.   The  Program 123 

VIII.   The  School  and  Its  Life 150 

IX.   French  and  the  Classics      ........  187 

X.   Modern  Languages 213 

XI.   History  and  Geography 237 

XII.   Mathematics  and  Science 257 

XIII.  Other    Subjects   of   Instruction  :    Philosophy, 

Morale,  Law,  Drawing,  and  Gymnastics    .  288 

XIV.  The  Public  Education  of  Girls 309 

XV.   The  Higher  Normal  School  and  the  Training 

of  Teachers 345 

XVI.    Some   Characteristics  of  the  Schools  of  the 

Twentieth  Century 378 


xii  CONTENTS 

Page 
Appendix  A.    Copy  of  Master's  Diploma  of  One  Petrus 

Mansart,  1511 389 

Appendix  B.   Curriculum   of   the   Colleges   of   the 

University.     Statutes  of  1600    .     .     .     390 

Appendix  C.   Paris    Colleges,    1600,    Chronological 

Order  of  Foundation ,391 

Appendix  D.  Chronological  Order  of  Foundation  of 
the  Universities  of  France  in  Exist- 
ence at  the  End  of  the  Seventeenth 
Century 393 

Appendix  E.    Curriculum    of    the    Jesuits  :    Ratio 

Studiorum,  1599 394 

Appendix  F.  Extract  from  the  Cash  Account  of  Mon- 
sieur Filley  de  la  Barre,  1706-1728       396 

Appendix  G.    Curriculum  of  the  University  Colleges, 

176-  according  to  Holland  ....     399 
i 
Appendix  H.   Comparative   Daily   Programs   in   1769 

and  1874 .401 

Appendix    I.    Occupations  of  Parents  of  Scholarship 

Holders  appointed  in  1906-1907    .     .     402 

Appendix    J.   Menu.     Lycee  Lakanal,  Sceaux   .     .     .     403 

Appendix  K.  Program  of  the  Examination  (Letters) 
for  the  Certificate  for  Teaching  in 
Girls'  Secondary  Schools      ....     405 

Appendix  L.  Diplome  d'Etudes  Superieures  de  Phi- 
losophie.  Examination  Markings, 
Higher  Diploma  in  Philosophy      .     .     408 

Appendix  M.  Bibliography 411 

Appendix  N.    Boys'  Secondary  Schools.     Program  of 

1912 431 

INDEX 437 


NOTE 

Tbe  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  tbe  footnotes  and  in 
tbe  bibliography : 

Bull.  adm.    for   Bulletin   administratif   du   Ministere    de    l'instruction 

publique  et  des  Beaux-Arts. 
Circ.  for  Circulaires  et  instructions  officielles  relatives  a  l'instruction 

publique. 
Enquete  for  Enquete  sur  l'enseignement  secondaire.     The  report  of  the 

Ribot  Commission. 
Rep.    Com.   Ed.   for   Report  of  the    United   States   Commissioner  of 

Education. 


FRENCH   SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 

CHAPTEE  I 

THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING 

The  meeting  of  Charles  the  Great  and  Alcuin  at  Parma  in 
the  spring  of  781  was  one  of  those  events  in  history,  which, 
however  unimportant  they  may  appear  at  the  Carles  invites 
moment,  seem  fraught  with  significance  when  Alcuin  to 
viewed  in  the  light  of  subsequent  develop-  Aacnen- 
ments.  These  two  men  standing  as  they  did  for  the 
highest  attainment  in  Western  Europe,  the  one  of  the 
temporal  power,  and  the  other  of  the  intellectual  life,  were 
no  strangers  to  each  other,  for  they  had  met  in  a  neighbor- 
ing city  some  years  before.  Doubtless  during  the  inter- 
vening time  the  powerful  king  had  heard  of  the  rise  of  that 
young  Saxon  with  only  less  interest  than  the  latter  had 
followed  the  strenuous  career  of  the  Frankish  monarch.  It 
was  at  the  time  of  this  second  meeting  in  the  Italian  city 
that  Charles  formally  invited  Alcuin  to  come  to  the  Frank- 
land  to  teach.  After  the  death  of  iElbert,  Alcuin  had 
gone  to  Eome  in  accordance  with  the  wish  of  his  former 
teacher  to  receive  from  the  Pope  the  pallium  for  Eanbald 
whom  the  old  archbishop  had  previously  selected  as  his 
successor.  Not  only  did  the  invitation  of  Charles  furnish  a 
welcome  opportunity  for  relief  from  the  troublous  times  that 
portended  no  peace  for  the  people  of  Britain,  but  further, 
Alcuin,  then  in  the  full  vigor  of  ripe  middle  life,  felt  it  the 
call  of  duty  to  cross  the  channel.  He  delayed  only  long 
enough  to  return  to  York  to  obtain  permission  from  his 
archbishop   and   his  king,  and  to  attend  to  some  business 


2  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

matters  at  home,  for  although  neither  then  nor  afterwards 
was  he  ever  a  monk,1  he  was  already  scholasticus,  or  master 
of  the  cathedral  school  at  York  and  was  also  in  charge  of 
the  cathedral  library  there.  Thence  in  the  next  year  he 
set  sail  for  the  continent,  in  company  with  some  of  his 
chosen  friends,  to  take  charge  of  the  palace  school  at 
Aachen. 

Charles  the  Great  was  already  somewhat  in  touch  with 

the  learning  of  the  time,  but  what  he  had  been  able  to 

obtain  from  Peter  of  Pisa  and  Paulus  Diaconus 

Charles  s       served  only  to  stimulate  his  desires  for  more. 

Up  to  this  time,  however,  his  book  learning, 

such  as  it  was,  had  been  chiefly  limited  to  grammar.     The 

rest  of  the  trivium  and  the  greater  part  of  the  arithmetic 

that  he  acquired  came   from  Alcuin,  while  for  the  other 

subjects  of  the  qruadrivium  he  was  subsequently  indebted  to 

Alcuin's  successor,  the  more  scientifically  inclined  Clement 

of  Ireland.2     So  when  Charles,  in  this  year  781,  in  one  of 

the  few  peaceful  intervals  of  his  stormy  career,  met   this 

Saxon  scholar  who  he  thought  could  satisfy  his  desire  for 

knowledge,  he  was  quick  to  seize  the  opportunity  and  invite 

him  to  his  court. 

At  that  time  in  Gaul,  learning  had  fallen  upon  evil  days. 
Although  under  the   old   Roman  Empire   there  had   been 

Condition  of    many  schools,  now  all  was  changed ;  internal 

Learning  in  strife,  foreign  invasion,  "  the  distribution  of 
the  monasteries  that  Charles  Martel  had  made 
among  his  warriors  had  given  the  last  blow  to  the  schools  of 
the  Gauls."  3  The  great  municipal  schools  that  had  flour- 
ished at  Treves,  at  Bordeaux,  and  at  numerous  other  cities, 
had  passed  away,4  and  what  little  instruction  there  remained 
was  carried  on  by  the  ecclesiastical  schools.  The  sum  total  of 

1  He  was  ordained  a  deacon  at  York.     West,  Alcuin,  p.  64. 

2  Mullinger,   The  schools  of  Charles  the  Great,  pp.  70,  121. 
8  Monnier,  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne,  p.  34. 

4  Guizot,  Histoire  de  la  civilisation  en  France  depuis  la  chute  de  V empire 
romain,  II.,  p.  2.  For  list  of  the  most  important  episcopal  schools  from  the 
sixth  to  the  middle  of  the  eighth  century,  see  id.,  p.  4. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING 

all  the  subjects  taught  at  these  schools  is  comprehended  ii 
the  phrase  "  the  seven  liberal  arts ; "  the  trivium,  includii 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  dialectic,  and  the  quadrivium,  aritl 
metic,  astronomy,  geometry,  and  music.1  But  these  subjects 
had  sunk  nearly  to  the  level  of  crass  utilitarianism,  and/  in 
the  main  they  were  studied  only  just  enough  to  sustai 
intellectual  life  of  the  church.  Charles  himself  in  one 
capitularies  bears  witness  to  the  low  condition  of  learning 
"  Desirous  as  we  are  of  improving  the  condition  pi  the 
churches,  we  impose  upon  ourselves  the  task  of  reviving, 
with  the  utmost  zeal,  the  study  of  letters,  well  nigh  extin- 
guished through  the  neglect  of  our  ancestors.  We  charge  all 
our  subjects,  as  far  as  they  may  be  able,  to  cultivate  the  lib- 
eral arts,  and  we  set  them  the  example.  We  have  already, 
God  helping,  carefully  corrected  the  books  of  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments,  corrupted  through  the  ignorance  of  tran- 
scribers." 2  The  passing  of  these  former  schools  marked  too 
the  passing  of  literature.  "Not  only  did  the  literature 
become  entirely  religious,  but  the  religious  even  ceased  to  be 
literature."  3 

At   that  very  time  learning  in  Ireland  and  Britain  was 
considerably  in  advance  of  that  on  the  continent.     Christi- 
anity  had  been  carried  to  Ireland   by   Greek 
missionaries,  and   to   Britain   by   Koman.     It    j^rekuad. 
was  these  two  countries  that  guarded  the  sparks 
of  intellectual  life  and  kept  them   aglow  to  rekindle  the 
sacred  fires  in  Gaul.     Of  all  the  schools  of  England,  that  at 
York  was  by  far  the  most  famous,  not  only  for  its  teachers, 
but  what  was  of  more  importance  still,  for  its  library,  for  in 
the  list  of  books  given  by  Alcuin  himself 4  one  finds  practi- 
cally all  the  text-books   of  the  time  enumerated.      It  is 
quite   natural,   then,   that    Charles    should    have   had   his 

1  For  a  good  account  of  the  development  of  the  seven  liberal  arts,  see 
Davidson,  Aristotle,  Appendix ;  and  West,  Alcuin,  ch.  I. 

2  Baluze,    Capitularia  regum  Francorum,   I.,   204-5,  quoted  in  Mullin- 
ger,  op.  cit.,  p.  101. 

8  Guizot,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  6. 

4  Quoted  in  Mullinger,  op.  cit.,  pp.  60-61,  note. 


4  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

attention  directed  toward  York,  and  when  he  cast  about  for 
teachers  to  satisfy  his  desire  for  learning  that  he  should 
have  been  attracted  by  the  renown  of  the  scholasticus  of  that 
famous  school.  The  meeting  at  Parma  gave  him  the  oppor- 
tunity he  wanted,  and  he  was  not  slow  to  offer  Alcuin  the 
position  of  master  of  the  palace  school.  Early  in  782  the 
Saxon  teacher  was  installed  in  his  new  place. 

This  palace  school  was  in  no  sense  a  public  school,  but 
seems  to  have  been  intended  exclusively  for  the  king  and 

The  Palace  n*s  court-  Among  its  pupils  we  find  Charles 
School  and  its  himself,  his  three  sons,  his  wife,  his  daughters, 
UP1S-  nis  sisters,  Einhard,  subsequently  his  biog- 
rapher, and  a  few  others.1  Although  nominally  situated  at 
Aachen,  the  school  was  a  kind  of  peripatetic  institution,  for 
it  followed  the  wanderings  of  the  court,  now  at  Worms,  now 
at  Mayence,  now  at  Frankfort,  now  at  Eatisbon.2  In  fact, 
this  migratory  characteristic  seems  to  settle  the  question 
that  it  could  not  have  been  a  higher  school  in  any  kind  of 
national  educational  system.  Subsequently  the  school  ap- 
pears to  have  increased  considerably  in  numbers,  for  we 
find  that  a  greater  part  of  its  pupils  obtained  positions 
of  responsibility  as  ambassadors,  archbishops,  and  missi 
dominici? 

Alcuin's  task  was  by  no  means  an  easy  one,  for  he  had  to 
adapt  his  teaching  to  pupils  differing  widely  in  age,  attain- 
ments, and  interests.     It  is  rather  likely,  how- 

iMtraction  ever>  ^at  wnenever  tne  kmg  was  present,  his 
own  needs  in  large  measure  determined  the 
instruction  for  the  others.  Inasmuch  as  Alcuin  never  showed 
himself  to  be  an  independent  thinker,  the  lessons  of  the 
palace  school  probably  followed  pretty  closely  the  general 
character  of  his  own  instruction  at  York,  naturally,  however, 
with  certain  modifications  to  adapt  them  to  the  different 
nature  of  his   pupils.     One  can  readily  imagine  that  the 


1  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  pp.  81-82. 

2  Mullinger,  op.  cit,  p.  105. 
8  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  p.  135. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  5 

other  members  of  the  school  as  well  as  Charles  himself 
wanted  something  more  than  instruction  in  reading  Latin,  in 
learning  the  church  chants,  or  in  acquiring  facility  in  the 
computation  of  the  church  calendar.  In  this  respect  this 
school  differed  from  any  other  with  which  Alcuin  had  ever 
been  connected.  At  all  events,  the  preparation  for  his  new 
kind  of  teaching  was  often  no  slight  task  for  him,  master 
though  he  was  of  the  traditional  learning,  for  he  himself 
testifies:  "As  soon  as  the  ruddy  charioteer  of  the  dawn 
suffuses  the  liquid  deep  with  the  new  light  of  day,  the  old 
man  rubs  the  sleep  of  night  from  his  eyes  and  leaps  at  once 
from  his  couch,  running  straightway  into  the  fields  of  the 
ancients  to  pluck  their  flowers  of  correct  speech  and  scatter 
them  in  sport  before  his  boys."1  So  the  intercourse  of 
teacher  and  pupils  undoubtedly  redounded  to  the  mutual 
profit  of  both. 

"  It  is  difficult  to  say,"  says  Guizot,2  "  what  was  the  object 
of  these  lessons.  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  Alcuin 
treated  all  sorts  of  subjects  somewhat  at  random;  that  in 
this  palace  school  there  was  rather  more  of  conversation 
than  of  instruction,  strictly  speaking,  and  that  its  chief 
merit  lay  in  the  play  of  the  mind,  in  the  successive  arousing 
and  satisfying  of  the  curiosity." 

From  a  sentence  in  Monnier,3  it  looks  as  though  Alcuin 
might  have  presented  the  seven  liberal  arts  in  succession  to 
his  pupils  in  the  palace  school.  It  is  not  unreasonable  to 
suppose  that  the  work  thus  laboriously  prepared  may  have 
served  as  the  basis  of  the  treatises  that  have  come  down  to 
us  and  that  were  written  during  the  period  of  his  abbacy  at 
Tours. 

A  few  lines4   from   a   conversation  carried   on  between 

1  Migke,  Patrologia  Latina,  CI.,  p.  782.  Carmina  CCXXXI.  Quoted  in 
West,  op.  cit.,  p.  47. 

a  Guizot,  op.  cit.,  II.,  pp.  189-190. 

8  "Vers  l'annee  790,  Alcuin,  apres  avoir  termine  son  cours  sur  les  sept 
arts,  mettait  a  la  voile  pour  la  Grand  Bretagne."  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  p.  144, 
referring  to  Alcuin,  Rhet.     Quoted  from  Froben,  t.  II.,  p.  313. 

*  Guizot,  op.  cit.,  II.,  pp.  190-191. 


6  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Alcuin  and  Pepin,  the  second  son  of  Charles,  then  about 
fifteen  years  old,  will  suffice  to  show  something  of  the 
nature  of  the  instruction,  which  as  Mullinger  points  out 
"foreshadows  the  scholastic  disputation."1 

Pepin.    "  What  is  writing  ? " 

Alcuin.   "  The  guardian  of  history." 

P.    "  What  is  speech  ? " 

A.   "  The  interpreter  of  the  soul." 

P.    "  What  produces  speech  ? " 

A.   "The  tongue." 

P.    "  What  is  the  tongue  ? " 

A.   "  The  whip  of  the  air." 

P.    "  What  is  the  air  ?  " 

A.   "  The  preserver  of  life." 

P.    "  What  is  life  ? " 

A.  "  The  joy  of  the  happy,  the  sorrow  of  the  unfortunate, 
the  expectation  of  death." 

Surely  not  a  very  advanced  form  of  teaching,  but  inter- 
esting as  showing  the  character  of  the  instruction  and  the 
trend  of  thought  of  the  period.2 

Successful  as  the  palace  school  was,  nevertheless  it  was 
one  of  the  less  important  of  Alcuin's  influences  on  Frankish 

Charles's       culture.      Strongly  supported,  if  not   actually 

Capitulary  urged  on  by  Alcuin,  Charles  began  to  spread 
of  787.  j-kig  intellectual  leaven  to  the  far  corners  of  his 
domain.  The  famous  capitulary  of  787,  "the  first  general 
charter  of  education  for  the  Middle  Ages,"  is  the  earliest  and 
by  far  the  most  important  of  the  royal  decrees  by  which  he 
tried  to  bring  this  to  the  attention  of  his  people.  It  was 
addressed  to  all  the  bishops  and  the  abbats  throughout  his 
possessions,  and  while  returning  thanks  for  the  expressions 
of  good  feeling  that  he  had  received  from  them,  nevertheless 
he  kindly  reproved  them  for  their  many  uncouth  phrases 
and  exhorted  them  to  improvement.     He  especially  urged 

1  Mullinger,  op.  czt.,  p.  75. 

2  For  more  detailed  account  of  the  instruction  in  the  palace  school,  see 
Monnier,  op.  cit.,  pp.  87-135. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  7 

that  men  should  be  chosen  for  interpretation  of  the  Scrip- 
tures, "who  are  both  able  and  willing  to  learn,  and  also 
desirous  of  instructing  others." 

The  full  text  of  this  epoch-making  document  is  as 
follows : * 

"  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God,  King  of  the  Franks  and  of  the 
Lombards,  and  Patrician  of  the  Romans,  to  Baugalf,  abbat,  and 
to  his  whole  congregation  and  the  faithful  committed  to  his 
charge : 

a  Be  it  known  to  your  devotion,  pleasing  to  God,  that  in  con- 
junction with  our  faithful  we  have  judged  it  to  be  of  utility  that, 
in  the  bishoprics  and  monasteries  committed  by  Tlie  Qreat 
Christ's  favour  to  our  charge,  care  should  be  taken  Capitulary 
that  there  shall  be  not  only  a  regular  manner  of  of  787. 
life  and  one  conformable  to  holy  religion,  but  also  the  study  of 
letters,  each  to  teach  and  learn  them  according  to  his  ability  and 
the  divine  assistance.  For  even  as  due  observance  of  the  rule  of 
the  house  tends  to  good  morals,  so  zeal  on  the  part  of  the  teacher 
and  the  taught  imparts  order  and  grace  to  sentences ;  and  those 
who  seek  to  please  God  by  living  aright  should  also  not  neglect  to 
please  him  by  right  speaking.  It  is  written,  '  by  thine  own  words 
shalt  thou  be  justified  or  condemned  ;'  and  although  right  doing 
be  preferable  to  right  speaking,  yet  must  the  knowledge  of  what 
is  right  precede  right  action.  Everyone,  therefore,  should  strive 
to  understand  what  it  is  that  he  would  fain  accomplish ;  and  this 
right  understanding  will  be  the  sooner  gained  according  as  the 
utterances  of  the  tongue  are  free  from  error.  And  if  false  speak- 
ing is  to  be  shunned  by  all  men,  especially  should  it  be  shunned 
by  those  who  have  elected  to  be  the  servants  of  the  truth. 
During  past  years  we  have  often  received  letters  from  different 
monasteries  informing  us  that  at  their  sacred  services  the  brethren 
offered  up  prayers  on  our  behalf;  and  we  have  observed  that  the 
thoughts  contained  in  these  letters,  though  in  themselves  most 
just,  were  expressed  in  uncouth  language,  and  while  pious  devo- 
tion dictated  the  sentiments,  the  unlettered  tongue  was  unable  to 
express  them  aright.     Hence  there  has  arisen  in  our  minds  the 

1  Migne,  Patrologia  Latina,  XCVIII.,  p.  895.  Translated  in  Mullin- 
ger,  op.  cit.,  pp.  97-99. 


8  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

fear  lest,  if  the  skill  to  write  rightly  were  thus  lacking,  so  too 
would  the  power  of  rightly  comprehending  the  Sacred  Scriptures 
be  far  less  than  was  fitting ;  and  we  all  know  that  though  verbal 
errors  be  dangerous,  errors  of  the  understanding  are  yet  more  so. 
We  exhort  you,  therefore,  not  only  not  to  neglect  the  study  of 
letters,  but  to  apply  yourselves  thereto  with  perseverance  and 
with  that  humility  which  is  well  pleasing  to  God;  so  that  you 
may  be  able  to  penetrate  with  greater  ease  and  certainty  the 
mysteries  of  the  Holy  Scriptures.  For  as  these  contain  images, 
tropes,  and  similar  figures,  it  is  impossible  to  doubt  that  the  reader 
will  arrive  far  more  readily  at  the  spiritual  sense  according  as 
he  is  the  better  instructed  in  learning.  Let  there,  therefore,  be 
chosen  for  this  work  men  who  are  both  able  and  willing  to  learn, 
and  also  desirous  of  instructing  others  ;  and  let  them  apply  them- 
selves to  the  work  with  a  zeal  equalling  the  earnestness  with 
which  we  recommend  it  to  them. 

"It  is  our  wish  that  you  may  be  what  it  behooves  the  soldiers 
of  the  Church  to  be  —  religious  in  heart,  learned  in  discourse,  pure 
in  act,  eloquent  in  speech  ;  so  that  all  who  approach  your  house 
in  order  to  invoke  the  Divine  Master  or  to  behold  the  excellence 
of  the  religious  life,  may  be  edified  in  beholding  you  and  instructed 
in  hearing  you  discourse  or  chant,  and  may  return  home  rendering 
thanks  to  God  most  High. 

"  Fail  not,  as  thou  regardest  our  favour,  to  send  a  copy  of  this 
letter  to  all  thy  suffragans  and  to  all  the  monasteries ;  and  let  no 
monk  go  beyond  his  monastery  to  administer  justice  or  to  enter 
the  assemblies  and  the  voting-places.     Adieu." 

As  to  how  carefully  the  commands  of  Charles  were  carried 
out,  history  unfortunately  gives  us  no  very  satisfactory  de- 
tails. Charles  himself,  however,  had  already  brought  with 
him  from  Eome  teachers  of  singing  and  arithmetic,  and 
these  were  distributed  among  the  various  monasteries  of  the 
realm.  At  all  events  the  king  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
satisfied  entirely  with  the  way  in  which  his  new  plans  were 
working  out,  for  he  issued  other  capitularies  two  years  later 
containing  more  specific  directions.  In  one  of  these  he 
directed  that  the  priesthood  should  be  recruited  "not  only 
from  among  the  servile  class  but  also  from  among  the  sons 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  9 

of  freemen." 2  This  is  rather  interesting  as  showing  some- 
thing of  the  disrepute  into  which  the  church  had  fallen,  as 
well  as  the  efforts  of  Charles  to  make  it  a  more  honorable 
calling. 

"Let  every  monastery,"  says  this  same  capitulary  of  789, 
*  and  every  abbey  have  its  school,  where  boys  may  be  taught 
the  psalms,  the  system  of  musical  notation,  singing,  arithmetic, 
and  grammar ;  and  let  the  books  which  are  given  them  be 
free  from  faults,  and  let  care  be  taken  that  the  boys  do  not 
spoil  them  either  when  reading  or  writing."2  This  shows 
very  clearly  what  Charles  believed  should  be  taught  in 
these  schools,  but  it  also  throws  additional  light  on  the 
decay  of  education  even  among  the  monasteries  and  abbeys, 
and  furthermore  echoes  his  dissatisfaction  at  the  effect  of 
his  great  capitulary. 

Some  years  later  in  797,  Theodulfus,  bishop  of  Orleans, 
issued  a  rather  remarkable  letter  to  his  clergy.     Although 
more  limited  in  the  scope  of  its  influence  than 
the  great  capitulary  of  ten  years  earlier,  yet  of  TheTduKuZ 
it  is  even  more  liberal  in  its  provisions.     He 
ordered  all  his  clergy  to  open  schools  for  their  parishioners 
wherein  the  children  of  the  faithful  might  receive  free  in- 
struction.3   This,  as  Mullinger  points  out,  was  probably  the 
prototype  of  the  modern  free  parochial  school.     Here  again, 
what  the  exact  results  accomplished  were  we  have  no  means 
of  knowing.     One  writer  4  goes  so  far  as  to  assert  that  the 
lower  orders  in  France  had  more  universal  education  at  the 
end  of  the  eighth  century  than  they  had  in  the  first  quarter 
of  the  nineteenth ;  while  another  maintains  that  they  were 

1  Baluze,  Capitularia,  I.,  p.  237. 

2  Ibid.     Quoted  in  Mullinger,  op.  cit.,  p.  102. 

8  "  Presbyteri  per  villas  et  vicos  scholas  habeant,  et  si  qui  libet  fidelium 
suos  parvulos  ad  discendas  litteras  eis  commendare  vult,  eos  suscipere  non 
renuant  sed  cum  summa  charitate  eos  doceant  attendantes  illud  quod  scriptum 
est.  ..."  Labbeus,  Concilia  Galliae,  VII.,  p.  1140  ;  quoted  in  Maitre, 
op.  dt.y  p.  14,  note. 

*  Lorenz,  Alcuins  Leben,  p.  38. 


10  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

probably  of  almost  no  account,  but  that  "the  attempt  is 
worthy  of  note."1 

The    importance   of   Alcuin's   influence   upon   education, 
however,  is  not  limited  to  his  direction  of  the  palace  school 

Alcuin  ap-  nor  to  nis  Part  *n  tne  issuance  of  the  educa- 
pointed  Abbat  tional  capitularies.  His  incumbency  of  the 
0  ours*  abbacy  of  Tours  is  of  even  greater  significance, 
for  the  effect  of  his  work  there  is  more  directly  traceable 
through  the  remaining  centuries  that  lead  on  to  the  founding 
of  the  University  of  Paris.  One  can  readily  imagine  that 
Alcuin's  life  at  the  palace  school  could  not  have  been  al- 
together pleasant.  It  is  hard  enough  to  teach  the  children 
of  royalty,  but  to  have  as  a  pupil  one  of  the  most  powerful 
monarchs  of  his  age  who  has  already  passed  middle  life,  is 
far  from  an  enviable  position.  Charles  was  indefatigable 
in  his  questions,  and  the  poor  Saxon  master  was  often  hard 
pressed  for  an  answer.  Alcuin  began  to  long  for  release 
from  this  strenuous  life.  At  length  in  796  Charles  gave  in 
to  his  importunity  and  consented  to  have  him  give  up  his 
work.  In  token  of  his  fourteen  years  of  faithful  service  as 
teacher,  counsellor,  and  ambassador,  Charles  rewarded  him 
with  the  abbacy  of  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  one  of  the  richest 
in  the  kingdom. 

The  seclusion  of  the  abbey  undoubtedly  furnished  a  wel- 
come relief  from  the  whirl  of  court  life,  and  a  court  life 
whose  laxness  must  often  have  shocked  and 
Th6oY^fDg  grieved  the  churchman.  But  Alcuin's  respon- 
sibility was  even  greater  there  than  at  Aachen. 
Ealbat  of  Tours  was  a  kind  of  embryo  feudal  lord,  for  he 
was  the  master  of  twenty  thousand  serfs,  and  his  farms 
stretched  from  Tours  as  far  as  Aachen.2  Yet  he  took  up 
his  new  task  with  all  the  zeal  of  his  early  life.  He  restored 
the  Benedictine  rule  in  all  its  severity,  and  reorganized  the 
school,  re-establishing  instruction  in  all  the  seven  arts,  and 
even  taking  an  active  part  in  the  teaching  himself.     He  set 

1  Guizot,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  216. 

2  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  p.  338. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  11 

himself  early  to  the  task  of  replenishing  his  library,  and  to 
that  end  besought  Charles  for  leave  to  send  some  of  his 
younger  monks  to  England  to  bring  back  books  from  the 
treasures  of  his  old  library  at  York.1  We  have  no  means 
of  knowing  the  extent  of  the  obligation  thus  incurred  by 
Tours,  but  we  may  reasonably  infer  that  whatever  of  the 
books  enumerated  by  Alcuin  in  his  account  of  the  library 
at  York2  were  not  already  at  Tours  might  subsequently 
have  been  found  among  the  books  of  the  latter  monastery. 
At  all  events,  thanks  to  Alcuin's  reforms,  the  fame  of  the 
monastery  at  Tours  soon  spread  far  aud  wide,  and  scholars 
were  attracted  there  from  all  over  the  western 
world.  Relieved  from  the  necessity  of  adapt-  Reforms, 
ing  his  teaching  to  the  demands  of  men  of  the 
world,  Alcuin  contracted  the  scope  of  his  instruction  to  the 
narrow  limits  prescribed  for  religious  needs,  and  Virgil  and 
other  secular  classic  authors  were  put  on  a  "  forbidden  list." 
The  whole  monastery  breathed  the  spirit  of  thoughtful  study 
and  reflection.  At  this  time  all  instruction  was  free,  al- 
though some  of  Alcuin's  successors  allowed  "  sordid  business 
considerations  "  to  enter  into  their  conduct  of  the  abbey,  for 
about  840  we  find  Archbishop  Amalric  setting  aside  certain 
property  whose  income  should  provide  for  re-establishing 
free  instruction  at  Tours,  and  Charles  the  Bald  confirming 
this  in  a  capitulary.3  Alcuin  himself  spent  much  time  in 
looking  after  the  work  of  his  copyists,  for  he  was  especially 
anxious  to  restore  the  purity  of  the  Latin  language.  But 
that  Alcuin  found  time  for  more  advanced  instruction  may 
be  learned  from  the  famous  scholars  that  came  to  St.  Martin's 
to  profit  by  his  teaching.  By  far  the  most  illustrious  of 
all  these  pupils  (in  fact  his  fame  even  surpasses  that  of  his 
master)  was  Babanus  Maurus,  subsequently  abbat  at  Fulda, 

1  Alcuin,  Epist.  XXXVIII.,  L,  p.  52.     Quoted  in  Monnier,  op.  tit., 
p.  260. 

2  See  Mullinger,  op.  czt.,  pp.  60-61,  note. 

8  MaJtre,  Les  faoles  ipiscopales  et  monastiques  de  VOccident  depuis  Charle- 
magnejusqu'd,  Philippe- Auguste,  pp.  49,  203. 


12  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

one  who  zealously  sought  to  carry  on  the  ideals  of  his 
teacher. 

Thenceforward  learning  seemed  to  flow  in  three  parallel 
currents.1  1.  At  the  east  it  centred  around  Fulda  and  the 
various  monasteries  dependent  upon  that  parent  institution. 
Thence  came  the  influence  that  spread  widely  over  Ger- 
many.2 2.  At  the  west  we  find  the  group  of  schools  that 
subsequently  became  merged  into  the  University  of  Paris. 
3.  In  the  centre  were  the  schools  of  Keichenau,  St.  Gall, 
Loubes,  Liege,  and  Strasburg,  which  contributed  in  no  small 
way  in  the  eleventh  century  toward  the  development  of  the 
western  group  of  schools. 

After  Alcuin  went  to  Tours,  Charles  hesitated  some  time 
before  appointing  a  new  head  for  the  palace  school.  His 
interest  in  astronomy  had  meanwhile  been 
Policy  growing  steadily,  and  Alcuin  had  never  been 
at  <? I  a^e  satisfactoi>ily  t°  answer  the  questions  of 
his  royal  pupil,  so  it  is  not  strange  that  the 
king's  new  teacher  should  be  stronger  in  the  subjects  of  the 
quadrivium  than  was  his  old  master.  The  new  head  was 
Clement  of  Ireland.  This  appointment  was  a  great  surprise 
and  grief  to  Alcuin,  for  not  only  was  the  emphasis  of  studies 
changed  from  the  trivium  to  the  quadrivium,  but  the  Irish 
scholars  represented  the  tradition  and  doctrine  of  the  Egyp- 
tian school,  and  the  change  that  this  implies  was  of  far  more 
initial  importance  to  the  churchmen  of  those  times  than  ap- 
pears possible  to  us  now  who  are  looking  back  at  that  re- 
ligious 3  strife  over  a  period  of  more  than  eleven  centuries. 
It  was  not  until  about  a  century  later  that  these  two  schools 
were  in  a  measure  harmonized  in  the  person  of  Kemy  of 
Auxerre,  who  taught  at  Eheims  and  at  Paris.4 

Lewis  the  Pious,  the  successor  of  Charles  the  Great,  at- 
tempted to  carry  on  the  work  of  his  father,  for  as  one  of 

1  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  p.  266. 

2  See  Russell,  German  higher  schools,  p.  10. 

8  For  more  detailed   account,    see  Mullinger,  op.   cit.,   pp.    114-123; 
Monnier,  op.  cit.,  pp.  36-43,  136-142. 
4  Monnier,  op.  cit.,  p.  267. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  13 

Alcuin's  pupils  in  the  palace  school  he  had  become 
vitally  interested  in  the  intellectual  life.  We  find  him 
formally  recognizing  the  existence  of  two  Ian-  M  na  t-  a  d 
guages  in  prescribing  the  translation  of  the  Episcopal 
Scriptures  to  the  lingua  Teudisca.  At  the  same  Schools, 
time  we  see  lay  education  differentiating  more  and  more  from 
religious  education,  and  the  line  of  demarcation  between  the 
monastic  and  the  episcopal  schools  becoming  more  and  more 
distinct.  The  culture  of  the  former  was  decidedly  of  a 
higher  type  than  that  of  the  latter,  although  one  was  in  no 
sense  a  preparation  for  the  other.  The  episcopal  school  was 
attached  to  the  cathedral  and  was  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  bishop.  It  was  destined  to  prepare  the  priests  for  the 
diocese.  The  acting  head  of  the  school  seems  to  have  been 
known  as  the  magister  scholasticus,  or  capiscolus.1  It  was 
he  who  read  slowly  in  a  droning  voice  the  words  that  the 
boys  laboriously  wrote  upon  their  tablets  of  wax.  Only 
after  these  had  been  carefully  revised  by  the  master  could 
they  be  copied  upon  the  leaves  of  parchment.  In  this  way 
each  pupil  probably  wrote2  most  of  the  books  he  ever  pos- 
sessed.3 Narrow  utilitarianism  was  the  dominant  factor  in 
outlining  the  work  of  the  schools,  for  it  probably  seldom 
included  more  than  the  minimum  requirements  for  the  per- 
formance of  the  religious  offices.  Orleans  and  Rheims  fur- 
nish the  only  striking  exceptions  to  the  general  mediocrity 
of  all  these  cathedral  schools  during  the  ninth  century. 
These  two  schools  under  the  direction  of  Theodolfus  and 
Hincmar  respectively  represented  distinctly  a  higher  type 

1  MaItre,  op.  cit.,  p.  184. 

2  This  reminds  one  in  general  of  the  custom  still  pursued  in  some  of  the 
classes  of  the  elementary  schools  where  the  words  of  the  teacher  dictated  at 
the  end  of  the  lesson  and  copied  by  the  pupils  serve  as  their  text-books.  See 
the  author's  French  public  primary  school  system,  p.  90.  It  is  almost  un- 
necessary to  add  that  here  the  similarity  between  these  schools  ceases. 

8  See  Rabanus  Maurus'  words  in  Migne,  CXIL,  1600-1601 : 

"  Me  quia  quaecumque  docuerunt  ore  magistri, 
Ne  vaga  mens  perdat,  cuncta  dedi  foliis." 

Mullinger,  op.  cit.,  p.  131,  note. 


14  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

of  education.  Indeed,  it  was  "the  episcopal  school  at 
Eheims  which  .  .  .  claims  the  proud  distinction  of  having 
preserved,  in  this  century  (the  ninth),  that  tradition  of 
learning  which  links  the  episcopal  schools  with  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris." * 

It  is  to  the  monastic  schools  throughout  the  period  from 
Charles  the  Great  to  Philip  Augustus,  however,  that  we 

must  look  to  find  the  real  preservers  of  learn- 
ScTools.6      **»    Corbie>  st-  Riquier,  St.  Martin  at  Metz, 

St.  Bertin,  and  Ferrieres  (one  of  the  two  abbeys 
bestowed  upon  Alcuin  when  he  first  came  to  the  court  of 
Charles)  are  among  the  most  important  of  these.  In  831 
the  library  at  St.  Kiquier  possessed  two  hundred  and  fifty 
volumes,  a  very  large  number  for  that  time  when  every 
book  represented  the  arduous  hand  labor  of  days,  and  some- 
times of  months.  Here,  thanks  to  the  severity  of  the  Bene- 
dictine rule,  not  only  was  there  much  copying  of  books,  but 
the  monks  zealously  devoted  themselves  to  the  study  of  the 
liberal  arts,  the  writings  of  the  church  fathers,  and  the  Holy 
Scriptures  themselves.  Alcuin  had  posted  in  his  copying 
room  at  Tours:  "Later  the  copyist  may  himself  become 
master.  Then  he  may  find  new  doctrines,  and  expound 
those  of  the  ancients." 2 

It  is  worthy  of  note  in  passing  to  refer  to  the  petition  of 
the  bishops  to  the  king  in  829.     They  begged  him  to  use 

his  authority  "  to  establish  schools  in  the  three 
BtionP829etl*   most  suitaDle  places  within  his  dominions  in 

order  that  his  father's  work  and  his  own  might 
not  come  to  naught."  3  Unfortunately  the  advent  of  civil 
war  put  an  end  to  this  project,  and  to  most  of  the  other 
reforms  that  Lewis  the  Pious  had  undertaken. 

From  this  time  on  well  nigh  to  the  beginning  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  we  have  to  seek  for  intellectual  attainment 
in  the  scattered  monasteries  where  abbats  and  monks  devoted 

1  MlTLLINGER,  op.  tit.,  p.  132. 

2  Quoted,  Monnier,  op.  tit.,  pp.  263-264. 
8  Quoted,  MAfTRE,  op.  cit.t  pp.  25-26. 


THE  FIRST  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING  15 

to  the  cause  of  learning  still  cherished  the  ideals  that  Alcuin 
had  brought  to  Frankland.  This  influence  is  directly  trace- 
able down  to  Odo  of  Cluny,  but  with  his  death  in  940  its  last 
vestige  fades  away  in  the  gathering  gloom  that  enshrouds  the 
greater  part  of  the  tenth  century.  Perchance  its  tradition 
still  persisted,  and  like  a  sunken  river  it  flowed  steadily 
along,  coming  to  the  surface  again  in  Drago,  John  the  Deaf, 
and  Roscellinus.  Such  was  the  first  revival  of  learning  in 
Western  Europe  that  emanated  from  Alcuin  and  "  Europe's 
lofty  beacon,"  as  the  Saxon  teacher  once  admiringly  called 
Charles  the  Great. 


CHAPTEE  II 

THE  SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM 

"Ampere  recognized  three  revivals  of  learning  in  France: 
the  first  dates  from  Charlemagne ;  the  second  falls  at  the  end 
Three  Revivals  °*  ^e  eleventn  century  ;  the  last  is  the  great 
of  Learning  in  Kenaissance  of  the  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  cen- 
France.        turies."  1    It  is  the  period  of  this  second  revival 
of  learning,  commonly  known  as  the  period  of  scholasticism, 
that  now  concerns  us,  and  the  significance  of  this  whole 
movement  centres  around  the  fact  that  it  marks  the  found- 
ing of  our  modern  universities. 

The  former  monastic  and  cathedral  schools  still  dragged 
on  a  more  or  less  precarious  existence.  Almost  like  a  flash 
in  the  pan  some  one  of  them  would  become 
T^e  TCmes°f  famous,  but  its  repute  was  only  ephemeral,  and 
it  soon  dropped  back  into  a  position  of  medi- 
ocrity. The  renown  of  any  particular  school  was  dependent 
upon  the  brilliancy  of  the  individual  head ;  hence  it  failed 
to  exercise  any  continuous  influence  on  the  intellectual  de- 
velopment of  the  nation  as  a  whole.  The  system  thus  had 
no  intrinsic  worth  of  its  own.  After  the  fatalistic  notion  of 
the  dies  irae  had  passed  away,  and  people  awoke  to  the  full 
realization  of  the  fact  that  the  world  was  still  as  intact  as 
ever,  they  seemed  infused  with  new  life.  One  expression 
of  this  regeneration  worked  itself  out  in  the  zeal  for  organi- 
zation. This  is  the  period  of  expansion,  of  the  crusades  to 
the  east,  of  the  rise  of  the  guilds  in  the  west,  of  the  growth 
of  independent  communes  in  France  and  Italy.     Apply  this 

1  Maitre,  Les  icoles  ipiscopales  et  monastiques  de  V Occident,  p.  141. 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM     17 

same  development  to  the  intellectual  world,  and  we  have  the 
community  of  learned  men,  the  university. 

In  the  eleventh  century  the  cathedral  school  at  Paris  was 
no  more  and  no  less  than  an  ordinary  church  school,  merely  a 
type  of  the  sort  of  institution  that  had  already  paris  as  a 
been  in  existence  for  centuries.  It  was  perhaps  Centre  of 
a  little  more  prominent  on  account  of  its  being  Learnmg« 
situated  at  the  capital  city,  but  the  Paris  of  those  days  did  not 
hold  the  same  relative  position  in  the  minds  of  the  people  that 
it  holds  to-day ;  in  fact,  on  more  than  one  occasion  it  had  been 
forced  to  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  Eheims,  Laon,  or 
Bee  in  the  intellectual  world.  From  the  advent  of  William 
of  Champeaux,  however,  there  was  a  permanent  change.  He 
began  to  draw  pupils  from  afar,  and  thither  in  the  very  first 
years  of  the  twelfth  century  was  attracted  that  young  Breton, 
"  the  first  of  French  philosophers  in  the  order  of  time,  and  by 
the  intellectual  movement  which  he  determined,  the  precursor 
of  Eamus  and  Descartes,  in  other  words,  of  the  Kenaissance 
and  the  modern  spirit."  x    This  man  was  Peter  Abelard. 

After  attending  the  school  of  William  of  Champeaux  for 
a  brief  period,  Abelard's  independent  spirit  refused  longer  to 
brook  the  domain  of  traditional  learning,  so  he 
determined  to  break  with  his  teacher  and  open  Learning! 
a  school  of  his  own.  A  contemporary  writer 
of  the  twelfth  century,  Guillaume  de  Conches,  suggests  that 
this  action  of  Abelard's  may  have  been  typical  of  the  time. 
"  Our  students,"  said  he,  "  have  renounced  the  Pythagorean 
system  which  required  seven  years  of  listening  and  thinking, 
and  did  not  allow  one  to  question  the  master  before  the 
eighth  year.  To-day,  when  he  is  barely  inside  the  door  and 
before  he  has  taken  his  seat,  the  pupil  questions  his  master, 
and  what  is  worse,  judges  him."2  Abelard  taught  at 
Melun  and  at  Corbeil,  and  finally  moved  on  the  very  camp 
of  the  enemy  by  establishing  a  school  on  the  slope  of  Mount 
Ste.  Genevieve  itself,  not  far  from  the  present  precincts  of 

1  Compayri^,  Abelard,  p.  23. 

a  Quoted  in  Tuery,  Histoire  de  V Education  en  France,  I.,  p.  298. 

2 


18  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  university.  There  were  already  schools  on  the  northern 
reaches  of  that  height  that  were  openly  competing  with  the 
cathedral  school  in  the  city,  but  Abelard's  quickly  over- 
shadowed all  the  others.  William  of  Champeaux  was  soon 
forced  to  give  up  his  position  in  the  cloistral  school,  and 
after  a  brief  interval  Abelard  was  installed  in  the  place  of 
his  former  teacher.  This  was  really  the  summit  of  his 
career,  and  he  continued  to  teach  theology  and  dialectic 
there  for  four  or  five  years.  Vainglorious  and  boastful 
though  he  was,  such  was  the  brilliancy  of  his  intellect  and 
the  power  of  his  argument  that  he  attracted  students  from 
far  and  near,  and  Paris  became  more  than  ever  the  intel- 
lectual Mecca,  "  a  source  of  living  water,  another  Athens." 
It  was  during  this  period  that  Abelard  is  said  to  have 
counted  among  his  pupils  twenty  cardinals  and  more  than 
fifty  bishops  and  archbishops.1  The  virility  in  his  teaching 
lay  in  the  fact  that  he  replaced  the  old  trivium  2  by  pure 
philosophy  and  advanced  theology,  contending  chiefly  for  the 
dominance  of  the  reason  as  opposed  to  tradition.  "  Scholas- 
ticism had  begun  before  Abelard,  but  it  was  he  who  gave 
movement  and  life  to  the  method  by  lending  it  his  power 
and  his  renown.  It  was  he  above  all  who  erected  it  into  a 
principle  and  gave  it  a  general  application." 3 

Thus  in  this  teaching  of  Abelard  do  we  find  the  germs  of 

the  university,  but  these  did  not  develop  to  a  recognizable 

Abelard  the    ^orm   until   more  than   sixty  years  after  his 

Forerunner  of  death.      Abelard    was   the   forerunner  rather 

the  University.  than  ^  f ounder  of  the  University  of  Paris, 

for  we  have  no  evidence  for  supposing  he  ever  had  the 

1  Crevier,  Histoire  de  V University  de  Paris,  I.,  p.  171. 

2  For  an  interesting  discussion  as  to  Abelard's  knowledge  of  mathematics, 
see  Ouvrages  ine'dits  d'Abtlard,  publics  par  Victor  Cousin,  Introduction,  p. 
xliv.  "It  is  certain  then  that  Abelard  was  entirely  lacking  in  mathematical 
knowledge."  Also  in  Crevier,  op.  cit.,  I.,  p.  221:  "Although  John  of 
Salisbury  testifies  to  have  had  a  smattering  of  mathematics,  it  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  studied  in  the  twelfth  century  as  much  as  in  the  time  of  Alcuin,  and 
in  the  centuries  immediately  following  him." 

8  Compayre,  op.  cit.,  p.  19. 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM    19 

remotest  conception  of  an  organization  like  even  the  univer- 
sity of  the  thirteenth  century.  Abelard,  however,  was  one 
of  the  first  exponents  of  that  desire  for  teaching,  that  neces- 
sity for  individual  expression,  in  a  word  for  the  Zehrfreiheit, 
that  has  dominated  the  universities  since  his  day.  "He  was 
a  man  who  by  his  merits  and  his  defects,  by  the  audacity  of 
his  opinions,  the  brilliancy  of  his  career,  his  innate  passion 
for  controversy,  and  his  rare  talent  for  teaching,  contributed 
most  to  increase  and  expand  the  taste  for  study  and  that 
intellectual  movement  whence  issued  the  University  of  Paris 
in  the  thirteenth  century." * 

The  impetus  given  to  learning  by  Abelard  was  quickly 
noticeable,  for  in  the  last  half  of  the  century  Paris  was  full 
of  schools  and  teachers.     The  work  in  the 
more  elementary  of  these  schools  was  doubt-      Grammar 
less   similar  to    that  described    by   John  of    Teaching  in 
Salisbury  who  came  to  Paris  about  1135  and    ^Jtu^ 
for  a  brief  period  sat  under  Abelard's  teaching. 
"  The  teacher  explained  the  authors,  accustoming  his  pupils 
to  apply  the  rules  to  the  text.     He  pointed  out  the  oratorical 
turns  and  the  subtleties  in  the  art  of  persuasion.     He  noted 
•the  fitness  of  the  terms  and  the  metaphorical  expressions,  the 
order  and  arrangement  of  the  different  parts  of  the  subject ; 
what  attention  should  be  paid  to  the  choice  of  words  and 
thoughts;  how  the   style  ought  to  vary   according   to   the 
subject-matter.     He  carefully  trained  his  pupils'  memory, 
requiring  them  to  recite  to  him  the  finest  selections  from 
the  historians,  the  poets,   and  the   orators,  which  he  had 
explained  to  them.     He  had  them  reproduce  exactly  what 
they  had  heard  (that  is,  what  he  had  told  them).     He  en- 
couraged them  to  read  for  themselves,  particularly  in  the 
great  authors.     He  wanted  them  to  write  both  prose   and 
verse  every  day,  and  he  started  conferences  wherein  they 
discussed  questions  among  themselves."2 

1  Ouvrages  inidits  d'AMlard,  publics  par  Victor  Cousin,  Introduction, 
p.  1. 

2  Kilian,  Tableau  historique  de  Vinstruction  secondaire  en  France,  p.  7. 


20  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

The  instruction  in  the  ecclesiastical  schools  of  that  time 

was  for  the  most  part  free.     In  fact,  William  of  Champeaux 

is  said  to  have  taught  philosophy  publicly  and 

I  FtGS  *?  gratuitously  in  a  faubourg  of  Paris,  where  he 
laid  the  foundations  of  the  abbey  of  St.  Victor 
in  1108.1  But  it  is  inconceivable  that  all  the  schools  that 
were  springing  up  on  Mount  Ste.  Genevieve  could  have  been 
free.  Fired  with  the  zeal  for  self-expression  though  those 
teachers  were,  so  much  so  in  fact  that  they  seemed  to  be 
learners  one  day  and  teachers  the  next,  yet  they  must  have 
gained  a  livelihood  in  some  way.  The  teaching  profession 
then  could  not  have  been  entirely  bereft  of  pecuniary  reward, 
for  Abelard  himself  declared  that  "  poverty  forced  him  to  re- 
open a  school."  2  What  the  fees  were  we  have  no  means  of 
knowing,  but  in  his  case  they  must  have  amounted  to  con- 
siderable, for  this  school  of  the  Paraclete  was  fairly  thronged 
with  students,  and  formerly  at  his  lectures  in  Paris  he  had 
been  known  to  have  as  many  as  three  thousand  auditors. 

In  Abelard's  time  the  Lehrfreiheit  was  less  restricted  than 
in  the  succeeding  years.     The  ease  with  which  he  opened 

Lehrfreiheit  n*s  scno°l  an(*  gathered  about  him  his  hun- 
and  the  dreds  of  eager  disciples  is  an  indication  of  the 
License.  existing  conditions.  But  the  misfortunes  of 
his  later  years  are  well  known :  how  he  was  driven  about 
from  place  to  place ;  haled  before  an  ecclesiastical  council  at 
Soissons  and  forced  to  burn  his  books  with  his  own  hand  (a 
punishment  of  no  small  moment  in  those  days  when  the 
writing  of  a  book  was  such  a  laborious  affair) ;  and  even  im- 
prisoned in  a  monastery.  Toward  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century,  this  right  to  teach  was  considerably  abridged,  and 
as  one  Catholic  writer  expressed  it,  "the  Church,  justly 
alarmed  by  the  reprehensible  undertakings  of  certain  impru- 
dent doctors,  exercised  its  right,  and  began  to  demand  the 
license"*    As  formally  established  by  the  Council  of  Latran 

1  Thery,  op.  cit.,  I.,  p.  255. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  273. 

3  Riancey,  Histoire  de  I  'instruction  publique  et  de  la  libtrti  de  I  'enseigne- 
ment  en  France,  I.,  pp.  188-189.  > 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM    21 

in  1179,  this  signified  merely  a  permission  to  teach,  licentia 
docendi.  Since  this  authorization  had  to  be  obtained  from 
the  bishop  or  some  other  accredited  authority,  the  church 
was  thus  in  possession  of  a  kind  of  brake  that  could  be 
applied  to  the  intellectual  forces  when  the  centrifugal  move- 
ment seemed  likely  to  become  dangerously  strong.  In  Paris 
the  chancellor  of  the  cathedral  was  invested  with  the  power 
of  granting  the  license.  He  was  sworn  to  grant  it  only  to 
"  capable  "  individuals,  but  unfortunately  we  have  no  means 
of  defining  the  limitations  of  this  term.  At  all  events  it 
was  intended  merely  to  safeguard  the  rights  of  the  church, 
and  at  the  time  of  its  inception  was  applied  essentially  to 
the  field  of  theology,  although  in  the  next  century  this  was 
extended  over  the  arts  work  as  well.  Hence  the  origin  of 
the  degree  granting  power  of  the  chancellor. 

Meanwhile  the  schools  on  Mount  Ste.  Genevieve  became 
more  and  more  numerous  as  the  century  rolled  along ;  they 
drifted   farther  and   farther  away  from  direct     m    „ 

Tendencies 

control  of  the  cathedral  authorities,  although  0f  the  Schools 
two  thirds  of  them  were  taught  by  ecclesias-  ^nd^he 
tics ;  the  study  of  dialectic  absorbed  all  their 
interest  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  the  old  subjects,  and  they 
carried  it  to  ridiculous  extremes,  so  that  John  of  Salisbury 
was  moved  to  exclaim :  "  The  masters  of  our  day,  in  order  to 
parade  their  own  knowledge,  accustom  their  auditors  not  to 
understand  them,  and  they  imagine  that  Minerva  has  placed 
all  her  secrets  on  inaccessible  heights.  .  .  .  First  they  tax 
immoderately  the  feeble  comprehension  of  their  hearers; 
then  they  throw  the  natural  order  of  ideas  into  confusion 
and  make  a  special  effort  to  turn  things  topsy  turvy.  I 
might  almost  say  they  put  the  cart  before  the  horse ;  then 
they  seem  to  study  how  to  contradict  the  thought  even  of 
the  author  they  are  explaining."  2  The  schools  were  drawn 
closer  and  closer  together  through  a  community  of  interest 
until  the  ties  of  the  intellectual  life  became  stronger  than 

1  Quoted  in  Th£ry,  op.  cit.,  I.,  pp.  285-286. 


22  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

any  racial  antipathies  that  may  have  existed,  and  we  find  the 
cosmopolitan  groups  of  teachers  and  students  in  the  embryo 
nations  making  common  cause  against  the  common  enemy — 
the  Parisian  populace.     In  1200  Philip  Augustus  took  the 

.  part  of  the  students  against  the  provost  of  the  city  and 
granted  them  the  right  of  trial  before  the  episcopal  instead 
of  the  civil  court,  a  privilege  that  M.  Compayre*  has  said 
"  may  be  considered  as  the  first  official  charter  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Paris." 1  During  the  next  fifteen  years  a  series  of 
bulls  issued  by  Innocent  III.  recognized  the  masters  and 
students  of  Paris  as  a  corporation  with  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  belonging  thereto  within  the  meaning  of  the 
Koman  law,  strengthened  their  position  in  their  contests 
with  the  chancellor,  and  formally  forbade  the  latter  to  with- 
hold the  license  from  anybody  that  the  masters  recommended 
to  him.2 

Thus  the  organization  subsequently  known  as  the  Univer- 
sity of  Paris  came  into  existence.     Originally  composed  of 
Organization    tne  masters  °*  tne  different  schools,  or  rather 
of  the        of  the  four   disciplines,3  the  university  later 
University,     differentiated  itself  into  faculties  and  nations. 
It  was  not  until  about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century 
that  this  nomenclature  assumed  its  modern  connotation.4    At 
that  time  the  clear-cut  distinction  between  the  faculties  is 
plainly  shown  by  a  letter  of  Alexander  IV.,  wherein   he 
threatens  the  arts  students  and   their  rectors  with  excom- 
munication unless  they  stop  interfering  in  the  affairs  of  the 
theological  faculty.5 

^  .  Almost  from  the  first  the  arts  faculty  necessarily  took  a 
subordinate  position  with  reference  to  the  others.  In  fact,  it 
was  naturally  looked  upon  as  preparatory  to  theology,  law 

1  COMPAYRri,  op.  cit.,  p.  78. 

2  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  Okartularium  Uhiversitatis  Parisiensis,  I.,  p. 
62  et  seq. 

8  Denifle,  Die  Entstehung  der  Universitaten  des  Mittelalters  bis  1400, 
p.  69. 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  71-72,  106. 

6  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.%  p.  388. 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM    23 

(canon),  and  medicine.  Nevertheless,  in  so  far  as  dialectics 
and  philosophy  formed  a  part  of  the  subject-matter,  these 
arts  schools  certainly  came  within  the  scope 
of  what  is  now  known  as  superior  instruc-  The  Arts 
tion.  But  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  instruction  the^Secondary 
dealt  with  the  ordinary  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  Character  of 
mathematics  (and  undoubtedly  there  was  much  lts  or  ' 
of  this  elementary  work),  they  belonged  to  the  middle 
part  of  the  present  secondary  course.  Their  students  were 
allowed  to  enter  younger  and  younger,  and  in  place  of  Abe- 
lard's  lectures  for  the  comprehension  of  men,  we  find  the 
lessons  adapted  to  youths  of  fourteen  or  even  less.  If  the 
student  had  learned  to  read  and  write  (of  course  in  Latin), 
and  had  mastered  the  elements  of  Latin  grammar,  he  was 
deemed  competent  to  begin  the  study  of  logic,  and  was  con- 
sequently eligible  for  the  university.  The  sole  other  condi- 
tion of  admission  seems  to  have  been  that  the  young  student 
should  attach  himself  to  some  master,1  who  was  thus  in  a 
measure  responsible  for  him.  It  appeared  later  that  one  of 
the  functions  of  this  master  was  to  claim  his  young  charge  at 
the  provost's  when  he  fell  into  the  toils  of  the  law.2  When  one 
considers  the  youth  of  many  of  these  students,  the  wisdom 
of  this  precaution  immediately  becomes  apparent.  In  fact, 
throughout  most  of  the  early  years  there  was  constant  strife 
between  town  and  gown,  and  this  friction  was  the  immedi- 
ate cause  of  many  of  the  early  privileges  granted  by  the 
kings.  The  crowd  of  students  brought  too  much  revenue  to 
the  city  and  nation  for  the  king  to  treat  them  with  disdain, 
and  so  for  the  first  years  at  least  the  university  could  almost 
always  count  on  the  royal  support. 

Let  us  pause  for  a  moment  and  see  what  these  mediseval 
students  were  studying  in  this  University  of  Paris.  The 
earliest  curriculum  is  that  outlined  by  Kobert  de  Courcon 
in  1215.3     This  practically  confines  the  work  of  the  ordinary 

1  Nullus  sit  scholaris  Parisius,  qui  certum  magistrum  non  habeat.  Statute 
of  Robert  de  Courcon,  1215,  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.y  I.,  p.  79. 

2  Thurot,  op.  cit.,  p.  38. 

8  "Et  quod  legant  libroa  Ariatotelia  de  dialectica  tarn  de  veteri  quam  de 


24  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

courses  to  certain  parts  of  Aristotle's  logic  (in  either  the  ver- 
sion of  Porphyry  or  Boethius),  some  other  works  of  Boethius, 
and  the  whole  of  Priscian's  grammar.     For  the 
Curriculum     extraordinary  courses  (which   could  be  given 
of  the  Arts     only  on  holidays)  we  find  the  fourth  book  of 
Boethius's   Topics,  Donatus's  De  Barbarismo, 
Aristotle's  Ethics,  and  the  subjects  of  the  quadrivium.     Aris- 
totle's Metaphysics,  and  Natural  Philosophy,  together  with 
the  writings  of  certain  specified  heretics,  were  strictly  ex- 
cluded from  all  courses.     Save  for  some  rather  unimportant 
revisions,  this  remained  substantially  the  program  until  the 
advent  of  the  Eenaissance. 

It  was  during  this  early  period  that  we  find  the  beginnings 

of  our  modern  degrees.     Mr.  Laurie  has  aptly   traced  the 

parallelism  between  the  degree  process  in  the 

Degrees :  The  cmjld  of  arts  and  the  mastership  in  the  guild  of 

Baccalaureate.   to  .     .  r  .  & 

the  crafts.  This  is  merely  carrying  out  further 
the  analogy  already  pointed  out  in  suggesting  that  the  uni- 
versity and  the  guild  were  both  the  evolution  of  a  common 
feeling  —  the  need  for  organization.  The  lowest  degree,  sub- 
sequently called  the  baccalaureate,  was  for  a  long  time 
known  as  the  determinance.  It  was  formally  established  in 
1275  *  and  remained  practically  the  same  until  toward  the 
end  of  the  fourteenth  century.  A  candidate  must  be  at  least 
fourteen  years  old  and  must  have  studied  logic  for  two  years 
at  Paris  or  have  had  equivalent  work  at  another  university. 
The  examination  consisted  of  three  parts :  (1)  a  disputation 
before  his  master  and  his  classmates  some  time  before  Christ- 
mas ;  (2)  an  examination  shortly  afterward  conducted  by  a 
special  examining  board  of  the  nation ;  and  (3)  a  public  dis- 
putation in  Lent.  This  determinance,  then,  concerned  only 
the  nations  of  the  faculty  of  arts  (although  it  was   subse- 

nova  in  scolis  ordinarie  et  non  ad  cursum.     Legant  etiaru  in  scolis  ordinarie 
duos  Priscianos  ad  alterum  ad  minus.  .  .  .  Non  legantur  libri  Aristotelis  de 
methafisica,  et  de  naturale  philosophia,  nee  summe  de  eisdem.  .  .  .  "  Deniflb 
et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.,  I.,  pp.  78-79.     See  also  id.,  pp.  228,  278. 
1  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.,  p.  531. 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.     SCHOLASTICISM    25 

quently  adopted  by  the  other  faculties),  and  there  were  minor 
differences  of  procedure  among  the  various  nations.  The 
name  "baccalaureate"  was  not  applied  until  the  fifteenth 
century. 

As  we  have  already  seen,  the  licence  or  permission  to  teach 
antedates  by  many  years  the  corporate  existence  of  the  uni-^ 
versity.  Originally  it  was  granted  solely  on  The  License 
the  initiative  and  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Chan-  and  Master- 
cellor  of  the  Cathedral.  By  the  year  1213 1  he  ship- 
could  not  refuse  the  license  to  any  candidate  whom  a  com- 
mittee of  the  masters  declared  worthy,  although  even  then 
this  question  of  worth  was  not  altogether  beyond  the  control 
of  the  chancellor,  for  he  appointed  three  of  the  six  masters 
that  composed  the  commission.  This  necessarily  presupposes 
that  there  was  some  sort  of  an  examination,  else  how  could  this 
committee  inform  itself  sufficiently  about  the  merit  of  the 
candidate  to  recommend  him  for  the  distinction?  Some- 
time before  the  year  1255  the  Chancellor  of  the  Cathedral 
had  further  been  compelled  to  share  his  power  of  granting 
the  license  with  the  Chancellor  of  Ste.  Genevieve,  for  in  that 
year  Alexander  IV.  issued  two  bulls,  one  to  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Cathedral  and  the  other  to  the  Chancellor  of  Ste.  Gene- 
vieve, couched  in  identical  terms  with  reference  to  the  grant- 
ing of  the  license.  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  second 
of  these  is  the  first  document  in  the  archives  of  the  university 
that  makes  mention  of  the  latter  officer.2  "  The  candidate 
had  to  swear  that  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  was  not  mar- 
ried, that  he  had  passed  his  determinance  at  Paris  or  at  some 
other  university  that  had  at  least  twelve  regents,  that  he  had 
sustained  at  least  two  public  disputations  before  several  mas-, 
ters  in  the  rue  de  Fouarre,3  and  that  he  had  studied  in  the 
faculty  of  arts  at  Paris  for  three  years.  The  time  spent  on 
grammar  was  not  to  be  counted  in  these  three  years.4     These 

1  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.,  L,  p.  531. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  299. 

8  A  street  in  the  Latin  Quarter  just  across  the  south  branch  of  the  Seine 
from  Notre  Dame.     Most  of  the  arts  work  of  the  university  was  given  here. 
4  Thurot,  op.  cit.,  p.  52. 


26  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

coDditions  were  subsequently  considerably  modified,  but  they 
included  the  most  important  provisions  which  prevailed  about 
the  middle  of  the  first  century  of  the  university's  existence. 
To  become  master  of  arts  it  was  only  necessary  for  the  licen- 
tiate to  be  received  formally  into  the  corporation  of  masters. 
The  two  essential  features  of  this  ceremony  seemed  to  be 
that  the  candidate  should  take  a  solemn  oath  of  allegiance 
and  obedience  to  the  statutes  of  the  university,  the  faculty, 
and  the  nation,  and  that  he  should  furnish  a  banquet  to 
his  fellow  masters.  After  an  elaborate  ceremonial  he  was 
thenceforth  a  full-fledged  teacher  of  the  university.  The 
mastership  was  the  highest  title  of  the  arts  faculty,  for  it 
was  not  until  long  afterward  that  the  doctorate  came  into 
vogue  in  that  faculty. 

In  the  meantime  various  colleges  had  been  springing  up 

in   Paris.     According   to   Vallet   de   Viriville,1   three  were 

founded  before  the  end  of  the  twelfth  century, 

^olle^s*  eighteen  during  the  thirteenth,  and  forty  dur- 
ing the  fourteenth.2  But  these  earliest  insti- 
tutions did  not  correspond  at  all  to  our  present  notions  of  a 
college.  They  were  practically  no  more  than  boarding-houses, 
each  with  a  resident  master  who  conducted  his  charges  to  the 
public  schools  in  the  rue  du  Fouarre,3  or  in  the  case  of  older 
students  the  colleges  were  a  kind  of  scholarship  foundation 
for  prospective  ecclesiastics.  It  was  not  until  after  the 
middle  of  the  thirteenth  century,  1257,4  that  Eobert  Sorbon 
established  the  first  college  for  lay  students  in  theology. 
These  colleges,  then,  intended  originally  for  students  from 
the  same  district,  province,  or  nation,  owed  their  foundation 
to  public  munificence,  private  benefaction,  or  as  was  true  in 
the  case  of  Sorbon  and  others,  to  a  combination  of  the  two. 
A  house  was  bought  or  built,  a  fund  set  aside  for  its  main- 
tenance, a  few  poor  scholars  gathered  together,  and  the  col- 

1  Vallet  de  Viriville,  Histoire  de  V instruction  en  Europe  et  principale- 
ment  en  France,  p.  166,  note. 

2  For  partial  list  of  these,  see  Appendix  C. 
8  Crevier,  op.  cit.,  I.,  pp.  271-272. 

4  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.,  I.,  p.  349. 


SECOND  REVIVAL   OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM    27 

lege  opened  its  doors.  As  time  went  on  and  more  and  more 
of  the  younger  students  were  gathered  in  the  boarding-houses, 
or  pedagogies,  as  they  were  called,  it  seemed  more  convenient 
to  keep  these  youngsters  in  their  pensionnats  and  teach  them 
there,  than  to  conduct  them  to  the  public  schools  in  the  rue 
du  Fouarre.  The  result  was  that  these  latter  schools  became 
less  and  less  popular,  and  finally  went  out  of  existence  alto- 
gether. Then  we  find  the  elementary  stages  of  the  French 
secondary  school  as  it  exists  in  the  lyc^es  and  colleges  to-day. 
Harcourt,  the  present  lycej?  Saint-Louis  (1280),  Montaigne 
(1314),  and  many  others,  however,  were  apparently  founded 
as  pure  secondary  schools,1  while  some,  like  Navarre  (1304), 
had  students  of  both  grades.  The  establishment  of  these 
colleges  simplified  the  disciplinary  problems  of  the  arts 
faculty  in  no  small  degree,  but  the  fundamental  principle  of 
student  control  had  been  diametrically  changed.  The  condi- 
tion of  almost  absolute  license  was  replaced  by  one  of  clois- 
tral repression,  and  this  same  notion  still  prevails  in  many  of 
the  French  schools  to-day. 

During  all  this  period  the  church  was  still  chiefly  respon- 
sible for  teaching  the  elements  of  learning  through  the  mon- 
astic and  cathedral  schools.  Each  cathedral  Tlie 
had  its  school  where  it  taught  not  only  the  "Grammar" 
boys  who  were  destined  for  the  clergy,  but  Schools- 
also  the  choir  boys  who  assisted  in  the  church  services.  In 
the  case  of  the  cathedral  school  at  Paris  these  latter  had 
two  masters,  one  for  music,  and  the  other  for  grammar, 
whence  it  happened  that  the  grand  chantre,  or  precentor, 
was  put  in  charge  of  the  instruction  of  the  lay  pupils,  so  to 
speak.2  As  the  city  expanded  and  schools  were  set  up  in 
the  other  parishes,  the  jurisdiction  of  the  precentor  was 
extended  over  them  all.  Eventually  we  find  the  Chancellor 
of  the  Cathedral  at  the  head  of  the  university  instruction, 
and  the  precentor  at  the  head  of  the  lower  instruction  (for 
at  that  time  there  was  no  distinction  between  secondary  and 

1  CoMrAYRtf,  op.  cit.,  p.  194. 

2  Joly,  TraitU  historique  des  faoles  6piscopales  et  eccldsiastiques,  p.  238. 


28  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

elementary  schools).  Such  was  the  power  of  the  precentor 
that  without  his  authorization  nobody  could  open  a  school 
outside  the  colleges  of  the  university,  that  is,  a  "grammar" 
school.1  It  was  to  these  schools,  then,  that  the  scholars 
]  (scholarship  holders)  of  the  earlier  colleges  were  sent  for 
f  their  elementary  instruction  in  grammar  and  the  other  sub- 
jects until  they  were  ready  for  philosophy.2  The  curricu- 
lum 3  of  these  parish  schools  was  limited  to  reading,  writ- 
ing, grammar,  a  little  church  reckoning,  and  church  music. 
It  is  almost  unnecessary  to  observe  that  this  instruction 
was  all  in  the  Latin  language.  The  grammar  of  those  days 
embraced  all  that  we  understand  by  the  word  to-day  together 
with  the  reading  and  interpretation  of  the  poets,  or  in  other 
words,  literature.  The  curriculum  of  some  of  these  grammar 
schools  was  gradually  advanced  until  it  also  included  the 
ordinary  rhetoric  of  the  time,  which  was  chiefly  confined  to 
the  formulas  of  letter  writing;  the  elements  of  arithmetic, 
then  known  as  algorism ;  and  some  very  elementary  work 
in  logic  based  upon  the  Summulae  of  Peter  of  Spain.  It 
can  readily  be  seen  that  this  presented  considerably  more 
difficulty  than  it  would  to-day,  for  the  pupils  copied  all  their 
own  books  themselves  and  then  committed  them  to  memory 
verbatim  even  before  they  could  understand  the  subject- 
,  matter.  In  any  case,  it  was  all  completed  by  the  time  the 
j  boys  were  twelve  or  thirteen  years  of  age,  when  they  were 
ready  for  the  logic  of  the  arts  faculty  of  the  university. 
Gerson,  in  the  regulations  he  drew  up  for  the  cathedral 
school  at  Paris,  gives  us  some  notion  of  the  discipline  there 
as  well  as  in  the  pedagogies.4  Each  pupil  was  supposed  to 
act  as  a  monitor  over  his  comrades  and  to  denounce  them 

1  Joly,  op.  cit.,  p.  304.  As  late  as  1678,  the  precentor  was  having  trouble 
with  various  individuals  who  were  teaching  without  this  authorization  on  the 
ground  that  they  were  teaching  "literature  and  foreign  languages,"  p.  495 
et  seq. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  267. 

8  Tiiurot,  op.  cit.,  pp.  93-94. 

4  Gerson,  Opera  IV.,  pp.  717-720,  trans,  in  Kunz,  Padagogiscke  Schriften 
von  Johannes  Gersons,  p.  146. 


SECOND  REVIVAL  OF  LEARNING.    SCHOLASTICISM    29 

for  violations  of  the  rules  of  conduct,  such  as  speaking  French, 
swearing,  lying,  rising  late,  talking  in  church.  Whoever 
failed  to  denounce  his  fellow  was  subject  to  the  same  pun- 
ishment as  the  malefactor.  The  whip  seems  to  have  been 
the  favorite  instrument  of  punishment.  In  fact,  one  writer 
facetiously  observes :  "  As  regards  discipline,  the  whips  of 
the  fifteenth  century  were  twice  as  long  as  those  of  the  four- 
teenth; .  .  .  the  whip  has  driven  ignorance  from  the  four 
corners  of  Europe."  1 

Such  in  general,  then,  was  the  contribution  of  scholasti- 
cism to  practical  education  —  nothing  that  could  really  be 
called  a  system  of  education  save  perhaps  in  AncientIn. 
the  higher  field.  The  universities  had  come  into  stitutions 
being;  they  had  rapidly  advanced  in  power,  n^ter^aT 
privileges,  and  position;  they  had  displaced 
forever  the  episcopal  and  monastic  schools  as  centres  of 
general  learning,  and  these  latter  classes  of  schools  "were 
completely  effaced  from  the  scene  of  history."  2  Their  de- 
scendants, however,  the  parish  schools,  continued  for  long 
afterward  to  provide  the  youth  with  the  elements  of  learning. 
The  field  of  secondary  education  was  covered  in  part  by 
these  schools,  and  in  part  by  the  arts  faculty  of  the  univer- 
sity, first  through  its  own  courses  in  the  rue  du  Fouarre, 
and  later  through  the  instruction  given  in  the  colleges  and 
pensionnats,  where  by  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century  the 
greater  part  of  the  arts  regents  were  teaching.3  The  certi- 
fication of  teachers  had  already  begun  in  the  license  of  the 
chancellor,  and  the  reform  of  Cardinal  d'Estouteville  in 
1452  marks  the  beginning  of  the  present  system  of  inspec- 
tion. At  that  time  he  ordered  the  faculty  of  arts  each  year 
to  choose  four  masters  from  each  nation  to  inspect  the  col- 
leges and  pedagogies  and  to  reform  therein  whatever  they 
found  amiss  in  morals,  food,  instruction,  administration,  or 
scholastic  discipline  in  general.4     So,  too,  during  this  period 

1  Monteil,  Histoire  des  Francais  des  divers  Mats,  II.,  p.  308. 

2  MaItre,  op.  cit.,  p.  170. 

3  Tiiery,  op.  cit.,  I.,  p.  391. 

4  Denifle  et  Chatelain,  op.  cit.  IV.,  p.  725. 


30  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

t 

we  see  the  colleges  beginning  what  is  to-day  the  traditional 

secondary  instruction  in  grammar,  rhetoric,  and  philosophy. 
Finally,  we  find  an  explanation  of  the  present  system  of  the 
French  lyc£es,  for  as  a  French  educator  has  expressed  it: 
"  The  universities  had  made  a  great  experiment  in  the  day 
school  for  students  of  all  ages.  And  it  must  be  thoroughly 
recognized  that  this  experiment,  which  people  seem  to  wish 
to  renew  in  our  day,  has  failed,  since  the  Middle  Ages,  as 
they  were  ending,  turned  into  another  path,  and  even  re- 
placed by  the  strictest  sort  of  discipline  the  liberty  of  other 
days."  * 

1  Compayr:6,  op.  cit,  p.  197. 


CHAPTEK   III 

THE  RENAISSANCE  TO  THE  REVOLUTION 

The  fifteenth  century  marks  one  of  the  great  epochs  in 
world  history,  for  it  chronicles  the  differentiation  between 
the  old  days  and  the  new,  between  the  Middle 
Ages  and  the  modern  times.  This  distinction  R  .  e 
is  even  more  striking  in  the  domain  of  the  in- 
tellectual life  than  in  the  political  world.  In  the  former, 
scholasticism  had  been  the  dominant  power  for  well  nigh 
three  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Received  with  great  acclaim 
at  first,  for  it  had  been  a  potent  force  in  dispelling  the  gloom 
of  the  dark  ages,  it  had  expanded  and  developed  far  beyond 
the  point  where  it  had  anything  vital  to  contribute  to  the 
world's  betterment.  It  was  now  no  more  than  a  desiccated 
body  with  the  substance  absorbed  by  the  most  barren  formal- 
ism. The  emancipation  from  this  formalistic  domination  is 
one  of  the  debts  the  world  owes  to  Italy,  for  she  had  been 
the  first  to  feel  the  invigoration  of  the  new  life,  and  thence 
it  had  been  transmitted  to  all  the  world.  The  fall  of  Con- 
stantinople, the  invention  of  printing,  and  the  discovery  of 
the  new  world,  grouped  within  a  comparatively  brief  period, 
each  had  its  share  in  disseminating  the  new  knowledge. 
Without  the  assistance  of  these  great  factors  the  Renais- 
sance might  have  been  born  and  have  perished  within  the 
narrow  limits  of  the  Italian  peninsula. 

Of  all  the  countries  of  Western  Europe,  France  was  one 
of  the  last  to  feel  the  inspiration  of  the  new  movement, 
perhaps  because  the  old  scholasticism  kept  such  a  tenacious 
hold  on  the  University  of  Paris,  the  centre  of  its  intellectual 
being,    perhaps    because   the   frozen   Alps   formed   a   non- 


32  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

conducting  medium  between  the  warm  life  of  tne  south 
land  and  the  hardly  less  impulsive  nature  of  its  •Latin 
neighbor  on  the  north.  At  all  events,  the  movement  was 
well  under  way  in  both  Germany  and  the  Netherlands 
before  France  felt  the  impulse.  It  was  the  expedition  of 
Charles  VIII.  in  the  last  decade  of  the  fifteenth  century  that 
first  attracted  France  deiinitely  toward  Italy. *  At  that  time 
the  French  king  acquired  or  appropriated  everything  portable 
that  fancy  prompted  and  sent  it  all  to  his  chateau  at  Am- 
boise.  Thus  "  Italy  conquered  the  French  from  the  day 
they  penetrated  there,  and  held  them  by  a  thousand  delicate 
ties." l  The  years  following  mark  the  very  culmination  of 
the  Eenaissance  in  Italy.  Eaphael,  Leonardo  da  Vinci, 
Michael  Angelo,  Titian,  Andrea  del  Sarto,  Machiavelli, 
Ariosto,  were  at  the  very  flood  tide  of  their  renown.  This 
was  the  era  of  individual  achievement,  of  intellectual  eman- 
cipation, of  a  real  re-birth  as  contrasted  with  the  tendency 
toward  organization,  toward  concerted  movement,  toward 
mere  resuscitation  of  the  past  that  had  formed  the  dominant 
note  of  the  scholastic  period.  Although  France  turned 
toward  the  new  life,  she  did  not  do  so  entirely  in  a  whole- 
-souled manner;  the  middle  class  showed  a  characteristic 
^reluctance  to  accept  innovations  and  clung  tenaciously  to  the 
old  traditions;  the  universities  and  colleges2  did  not  will- 
ingly surrender  their  old  methods  which  scholasticism  had 
so  long  dictated.  Besides,  too,  after  the  heretical  doctrines 
of  Luther  began  to  spread  abroad  every  humanist  was  more 
or  less  an  object  of  suspicion. 

Etienne  Dolet,  "  the  martyr  of  the  Eenaissance,"  gives  a 
vivid  contemporary  account  of  the  spread  of  the  new  ideas 
over  Europe : 3 

1  Lemonnier,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  V.,  1,  p.  159. 

2  By  1500  there  were  fifteen  universities  in  France,  and  in  Paris  alone 
between  forty  and  fifty  colleges.     See  Appendix  D  for  list  of  these  institutions. 

8  Commentariorura  linguae  latinae,  tomus  I.,  Stephano  Doleto  Gallo  Au- 
relio  autore.  Lugduni,  apud  Seb.  Gryphium,  1536,  Col.  1155.  Quoted  by 
Buisson,  Rapport  au  Ministre  de  V instruction  publique>  Preface  a  Repertoire 
des  ouvrages pidagogiques  du  XVIe  siecle,  pp.  viii.-x. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  33 

"  Barbarism  reigned  everywhere  in  Europe.  Suddenly 
Laurent  Valla,  supported  by  some  valiant  companions  in 
arms,  assailed  it  in  front.  .  .  .  Soon  the  combat  spread,  and 
from  every  country  rushed  the  reinforcements  for  the  army 
of  letters.  .  .  . 

"  This  army  of  letters  assembled  from  all  the  corners  of 
Europe  made  such  assaults  on  the  camp  of  the  enemy  that 
finally  barbarism  has  no  longer  any  refuge.     It 
has  long  since  disappeared  from  Italy,   it   is     ThofStheead 
gone  from  Germany,  England  is  saved  from  it,    Renaissance: 
it  has   fled  from  Spain,  it  is  banished  from  £°°J^£t 
France.     There  is  no  longer  any  city  in  Europe 
that  will  shelter  the  monster.     Everywhere  learning  is  more 
honored  than  it  has  ever  been.     The  study  of  all  the  arts  is 
flourishing.     Through  learning  men  are  led  back  to  the  study 
that  they  have  so  long  neglected.     Now  man  learns  to  know 
himself ;  now  he  walks  in  the  full  light  of  day  instead  of 
groping  hopelessly  through  the  darkness;  now  man  really 
lifts  himself  above  the  animal  through  the  mind  that  he  can 
cultivate  and  through  the  language  that  he  can  develop." 
Dolet  wrote  thus  enthusiastically  in  happy  ignorance  of  the 
fate  that  was  awaiting  him,  for  only  ten  years  later  he  gave 
up  his  life  in  the  Place  Maubert,  Paris,  for  prematurely  pro- 
claiming a  freedom  that  was  not  yet  accomplished,  mute  but 
incontrovertible  evidence  that  this  barbarism  was  not  yet 
overcome. 

From  the  foundation  of  the    ColldgeBoyal*  the   future 
College  de  France,  by  Francis  I.  in  T5§(^wemeLy  confidently 
assert  that  the  progress  of  the  Eenaissance  was 
fairly  under  way.     This  college,  really  an  in-       colleU. 
stitution  of  superior  instruction,  was  established 
as   a   protest   against    the    anaemic    scholasticism   and   the 
narrow  religious  dogmatism  as  represented  in  the  university 
teaching  of  those  days.     It  was  founded  as  an  association 
where  there  was  full  opportunity  for  independent  thought 
and  research  outside  the  domain  of  theology  in  distinction 
from  the  close  corporation  of  subservient  minds  that  made 

3 


34  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

up  the  body  of  the  real  university  teachers.  The  first  two 
chairs  founded  were  those  of  Greek  and  Hebrew,  followed 
some  four  years  later  by  one  of  Latin,  and  very  shortly  by  a 
still  wider  expansion  of  the  scope  of  the  intellectual  work. 
Here  then  was  a  body  of  teachers  known  as  lecteurs  royaux, 
paid  directly  from  the  royal  treasury  and  no  longer  depen- 
dent on  the  fees  collected  from  their  students.  This  again 
militated  in  favor  of  free  and  untrammeled  thought  which 
was  the  cardinal  principle  of  the  foundation.  This  institu- 
tion aroused  bitter  animosity  on  the  part  of  the  university  on 
the  ground  of  encroachment  on  its  hereditary  rights  and 
privileges,  but  the  opposition  came  to  nought  as  it  did  again 
less  than  half  a  century  later  in  the  case  of  the  Jesuits.  Of 
a  truth  "  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  king  of  France " 1  had 
already  begun  to  lose  her  monopoly  of  the  field  of  education. 
The  chair  of  Greek  founded  at  the  College  of  France  did 
not  represent  the  beginning  of  that  study  at  Paris,  for  Greek 
The  Study  of  na^  already  been  taught  there  long  before  the 
Greek  at  time  of  Francis  I.  Previous  to  the  fall  of 
Constantinople,  the  study  of  the  ancient  lan- 
guages had  for  many  years  been  much  neglected.  Even 
Cicero  and  Virgil  were  as  completely  forgotten  as  Sophocles 
and  Homer.  In  1450  one  Gregory  of  Tifernus,  a  fugitive 
Greek,  had  made  his  way  to  Paris  and  opened  a  school  for 
the  study  of  his  native  language.2  Some  years  later  the 
university  itself  called  Greek  teachers  from  Italy,  but  the 
chief  credit  for  the  revival  of  the  interest  in  Greek  in  France 
is  due  to  the  great  scholar  Budseus  (1467-1540).  One  of 
the  foremost  hujnjmjgts.  of  his i  aayTat  one  time  the  friend  of 
Erasmus,  he  discovered  anew  the  Greek  and  Latin  civiliza- 
tions through  the  study  of  the  languages  and  the  writers  in 
their  original  form  and  thus  contributed  immensely  toward 
a  knowledge  of  the  life  and  times  of  the  ancients.     In  fact, 

1  "  La  fille  ainee  du  roi  de  France,"  a  name  bestowed  upon  the  university 
by  Francis  I.  in  1515  and  subsequently  in  quite  common  use.  Cf.  Pasquier, 
Recherches  de  la  France,  p.  811. 

2  Kilian,  Tableau  historique  de  I  'instruction  secondaire  en  France,  p.  19. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  TO   THE  REVOLUTION  35 

Budaeus  was  largely  responsible  for  the  foundation  of  the 
College  of  France,  for  he  not  only  suggested  the  plan  to 
Francis  I.,  but  he  continued  his  importunities  until  he  saw 
the  professorships  actually  established.1  It  was  well  on 
toward  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century  in  the  little 
college  of  Ave  Maria  under  the  direction  of  Kamus  that  we 
find  Greek  and  Latin  authors  for  the  first  time  studied 
together  in  the  University  of  Paris.2  N 

The  situation  at  the  college  of  Sainte-Barbe  about  1500  (at 
that  time  one  of  the  youngest  colleges  of  the  university)  is 
probably  typical  of  the  general  conditions  then 
prevailing  in  Paris.3     The  organization  of  the    pA.Tp^- 
sixteenth  century  college  was  decidedly  looser   at  the  Begin- 
than  it  is  to-day.     At  the  head  was  a  principal    nj?s  of  t^e 
whose  control  was  chiefly  exercised  over  the      Century. 
boursiers  or  scholarship  holders.     We  must  not 
forget  that  when  the  colleges  were  first  founded  within  the 
university  these  scholars  formed  the  only  class  of  pupils,  but 
as  time  went  on  modifications  supervened,  and  at  this  period 
we   find   the   character   of  the   student  body   considerably 
changed.     Among  the  resident  pupils  were  (1)  the  convic- 
teurs  or  portionistes,  regular  boarding  pupils,  (2)  the  cam- 
eristes,  usually  young  men  of_w,eaith^who  lived  at  the  college 
in  the  charge  of  a  particular  master.     These  latter  students 
provided  their  own  food  and  service,  and  were  dependent  up- 
on the  principal  merely  for  their  rooms,  fire,  and  instruction. 
Not  more  than  five  or  six  of  these  cameristes  at  the  most 
were  under  a  single  master,  and  while  they  „.    „    , 

v       ,   .      ,,  n    ®    .-         -  .-.'  ./    The  Students. 

lived  in  the  college  they  formed  a  group  quite 
apart.     Among  the  non-resident  pupils  were  (1)  the  mar- 
tinets, "the  swallows,"  and  (2)  the  galoches,  so-called  from 
the  foot  covering  they  wore  in  winter  as  a  protection  against 

1  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  at  one  time  Erasmus  was  considered  as 
director  of  the  undertaking  and  was  actually  approached  about  1517  to  that 
effect.  Although  in  hearty  sympathy  with  the  plan,  the  Dutch  scholar  re- 
fused the  offer.     Lemonnier,  op.  tit.,  V.,  pt.  1,  p.  291. 

2  Waddington,  Ramus,  sa  vie,  ses  Merits,  et  ses  opinions,  p.  33. 

8  Based  chiefly  on  Quichekat,  Histoirede  Sainte-Barbe,  I.,  pp.  73-92. 


36  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  mud  of  the  Latin  Quarter.  The  martinets,  forming  the 
larger  part  of  the  student  body,  were  often  altogether  un- 
known to  the  principal,  for  inasmuch  as  they  paid  their  fees 
directly  to  their  masters,  they  never  came  in  contact  with 
their  principal  until  they  presented  themselves  for  their 
degrees.  The  galoches  were  chiefly  students  of  mature  years 
who  wandered  about  where  fancy  prompted,  making  their 
own  arrangements  with  the  masters  whose  courses  they 
frequented.  Finally  there  was  a  sixth  class  of  students,  the 
domestics,  whether  general  servants  of  the  college  or  private 
servants  of  the  masters  or  of  the  cameristes.  These  servants 
were  almost  invariably  poor  students  who  were  working  their 
way  along  toward  an  education  as  best  they  could.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  Eamus  was  for  a  time  in  this  ca- 
pacity at  the  College  of  Navarre. 

The  day  of  the  college  student  began  then  very  early  in 
the  morning,  much  earlier  even  than  in  France  at  the  present 

time.     At  five  o'clock  class  work  was  already 
of1" Work.      under  way.     This  first  period  lasted  an  hour 

and  then  everybody  went  to  mass.  After  that 
came  breakfast,  then  a  short  intermission  until  eight  o'clock, 
the  time  of  the  principal  lesson  of  the  morning.  This  was  a 
full  two-hour  period  and  was  followed  by  another  hour  of 
discussion  or  review  of  the  preceding  lesson.  At  eleven 
o'clock  the  resident  students  all  assembled  in  the  refectory 
for  dinner.  *  Although  they  had  but  one  meat  course  and  one 
vegetable  course,  the  repast  was  extended  over  a  whole  hour, 
for  it  was  preceded  by  the  reading  of  a  chapter  from  the 
Bible  or  from  the  life  of  one  of  the  saints  and  was  followed 
by  the  principal's  announcements  either  of  public  reproof  or 
commendation.  Then  came  an  hour's  quiz  on  the  morning 
lecture,  followed  by  an  hour  of  rest.  The  college  authorities 
took  good  care  not  to  leave  their  students  any  idle  time,  for 
this  "  rest  period  "  was  taken  up  with  a  public  reading  from 
one  of  the  poets  or  the  orators.  The  principal  lesson  of  the 
afternoon  lasted  from  three  to  five  o'clock,  followed,  as  in  the 
morning,  by  discussion.    From  six  to  seven,  supper,  and  then 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  37 

another  hour's  quiz  on  the  work  of  the  afternoon.  This  was 
followed  by  a  vesper  service,  and  the  curfew  rang  at  nine 
o'clock.  The  masters  and  some  specially  authorized  students 
were  permitted  to  sit  up  until  eleven  o'clock.  The  only  real 
recreation  was  on  Tuesday  and  Thursday  between  the  close 
of  the  afternoon  class  and  supper  time.  Although  holidays 
were  then  much  more  numerous  than  now,  these  did  not 
interfere  with  the  work,  for  as  in  the  early  days  of  the  uni- 
versity, they  were  given  over  to  subjects  outside  the  regular 
program,  the  "  extraordinary  lectures  "  of  former  times. 

It  is  not  surprising  that  Erasmus,  Rabelais,  Kamus,  Mon- 
taigne, and  Vives  found  material  for  ridicule  in  the  face  of 
such  exercises  as  the  following,  chronicled  by 
the  last  named  writer:  1  C£ST 

Master.    Child,  tell  me,  in  what  month  did 
Virgil  die? 

Pupil.   In  the  month  of  September,  master. 

M.  In  what  place  ? 

P.   At  Brindisi. 

M.  What  day  of  September  ? 

P.    The  ninth  before  the  Calends. 

M.  Kascal !  Do  you  want  to  dishonor  me  before  all  these 
gentlemen?  Bring  me  my  ferule,  draw  back  your  sleeve, 
and  hold  out  your  hand  for  having  said  the  ninth  instead 
of  the  tenth.     See  that  you  answer  better. 

M.  How  did  Alexander  raise  himself  when  he  fell  to  the 
ground  in  first  setting  foot  upon  the  soil  of  Asia  ? 

P.   In  leaning  on  his  hands  and  raising  his  head. 

The  sixteenth  century  was  a  period  of  enormous  educa- 
tional activity.     A  mere  cursory  examination  of  M.  Buis- 
son's  Repertoire  des  ouvrages  pedagogiques  du    F       ,.,     * 
XVI*  siecle,  an  explanatory  catalogue  of  the    Educational 
books  of  that  period   found  to-day  in  the  li-      Thought. 
braries  of   France,  containing  six  hundred  and  fifty  pages, 
will  give  some  idea   of  the   immense  amount   of   thought 

1  Quoted  by  Quicherat,  op.  cit.,  I.,  pp.  88-89. 


38  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

devoted  to  education  in  that  century,  a  period  second  only 
to  that  of  the  last  few  years.  From  Germany  we  find  the 
names  of  Luther,  Melanchthon,  and  Sturm;  from  Holland, 
Erasmus;  from  England,  Ascham ;  from  Spain,  Vives;  from 
France,  Eabelais,  Montaigne,  and  Eamus.  Of  these  three 
French  writers,  it  was  Eamus  that  left  the  deepest  impress 
upon  the  actual  education  of  his  time.  Eabelais  with  his 
keen  satire  and  his  advocacy  of  scientific  education,  and 
Montaigne,  in  his  quieter,  more  dignified  fashion  with  his 
insistency  that  the  man  should  first  of  all  be  a  man  and 
subsequently  a  doctor,  a  lawyer,  a  man  of  the  world,  were 
both  of  them  essentially  theorists,  whereas  Eamus  was  not 
only  a  far-sighted  educational  thinker,  but  furthermore  a 
practical  teacher.  To  borrow  a  fine  expression  from  M. 
Buisson,  Eabelais  and  Montaigne  were  both  "teachers  of 
genius,  but  teachers  by  accident."1 

Eamus,  as  professor  of  rhetoric  and  later  as  principal  of 
the  College  of  Presles,  instituted  important  reforms  there 
and  succeeded  in  building  up  a  flourishing 
institution  where  before  had  been  only  con- 
sistent mediocrity.3  The  most  significant  of  the  changes  he 
introduced  were  (1)  the  union  of  the  study  of  eloquence  and 
philosophy  in  the  same  class  room,  he  taking  the  rhetoric  in 
the  afternoon  and  his  colleague  Talon  the  philosophy  in  the 
morning ;  and  (2)  the  freedom  with  which  he  discussed  the 
text.  To  criticize  Quintilian,  much  less  Cicero,  was  almost 
sacrilege.  This  presumption  brought  him  widespread  no- 
toriety in  the  university  world  and  even  persecution,  espe- 
cially since  he  was  already  suspected  of  lukewarmness  toward 
certain  orthodox  theological  doctrines.  Despite  the  machin- 
ations of  his  enemies  he  was  appointed  professor  royal  at  the 
College,  of  France  in  1551,  and  there  he  soon  found  other 
independent  thinkers  that  shared  his  religious  doubts.  In 
his  suggestions  to  the  king  in  1562  on  the  reform  of  the 
university,  he  diagnoses  the  situation  with  wise  acumen  and 

1  Buisson,  op  cit.,  p.  xiv. 

2  Waddington,  Eamus,  sa  vie,  ses  Merits,  et  scs  opinions,  p.  64  et  <""r. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  TO   THE  REVOLUTION  39 

advises  drastic  changes.  The  most  significant  for  us  are  the 
suggestion  that  in  order  to  reduce  the  cost  of  education  for 
the  students,  there  should  be  established  in  His 
each  faculty  a  certain  number  of  professors  Educational 
with  fixed  salaries  paid  by  the  State  who  eorms- 
could  thus  dispense  with  the  necessity  of  student  fees,1  and 
the  recommendation  that  the  colleges  confine  themselves  to 
grammar,  rhetoric,  and  logic,  ana  that  the  university^  should 
teach  philosophy,  law,  medicine,  and  theology?  //In  other 
words,  he  proposed  a  sharp  demarcation  between  tn"e  fields 
of  secondary  and  superior  education,  asuggestion  that  was 
not  adopted  until  after  the  Revolution]  f1  Some  of  his  other 
ideas  in  regard  to  enriching  and  extending  the  university 
curriculum  (in  the  arts  faculty  by  the  addition  of  courses  in 
mathematics  and  physics)  were  carried  out  in  the  great  re- 
form of  Henry  IV.  Ramus  himself  did  not  live  to  see  them 
realized,  for  he  perished  in  the  sanguinary  days  immediately 
following  Saint  Bartholomew's. 

At  the  time  of  Ramus's  projected  reforms,   a  real  new 
birth  seemed  to  be    taking    place  all  over  France.      He 
himself  bears  witness   to  the  position  of  the 
University  of  Paris  in  the  world  of  letters,  for  8ancee  anTthe 
he  says  "  that  no  one  is  considered  to  have  had    Reformation 
a  liberal  education  who  has  not  studied  at       Together. 
Paris."3     The  numerous   educational  writings 
have  already  been  noted.     The  principles  of  the  Reforma- 
tion had  made  marvellous  progress  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land  so  that  Protestant   colleges   were 
springing  up  in  great  numbers.     But  the   dark   clouds   of 
religious  strife  had  already  begun  to  gather,  and  the  civil 
wars  of  the  League  put  an  end  to  all  these  fair  promises. 
Thirty  years  after  the  period  of  Francis  I.,  these  Protestant 
colleges  had  practically  all  disappeared,  and  the  reactionists 

1  Avertissements  sur  la  reformation  de  V university  de  Paris  au  Hoy,  1562 
(An  undated  reprint  paged  117-163),  p.  123  et  seq. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  139-140. 

8  Ramus,  op.  cit.,  p.  158. 


40  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

were  everywhere  dominant,  at  what  cost  to  France  one  can 
only  conjecture.  "  One  may  believe,"  says  a  French  writer, 
"that  Protestantism,  if  it  had  triumphed  in  France,  if  it 
had  not  been  hunted  out  during  the  religious  wars  before 
being  exterminated  by  the  revocation  of  the  Edict  of  Nantes, 
would  have  given  us  what  we  have  hardly  obtained  to-day 
after  three  hundred  years  of  struggle  and  effort,  a  strong 
organization  of  primary  instruction." 1 

From  about  the  middle  of  the  century  we  see  an  im- 
portant linguistic  change,  for  French  begins  to  displace  Latin 
Reaction  as ,  the  language  of  scholars.  In  1555  Ramus 
against  published  his  Dialectic  in  French,  and  fol- 
umamsm.  iowe(j  ft  seven  years  later  with  his  Reform 
Flan  for  the  University  and  his  French  Grammar  both  in 
the  vernacular.  In  1565  one  Henri  Estienne  published  a 
treatise  on  the  Similarity  between  the  French  and  the  Greek 
Language.  In  1576  Louis  le  Roy,  one  of  the  professors 
of  the  Royal  College  (the  college  of  France)  expounded  the 
orations  of  Demosthenes  in  French  rather  than  in  Latin, 
the  medium  of  interpretation  hitherto  employed.2 

In  the  meantime  a  new  organization  had  been  created 
that  was  destined  to  play  a  leading  part  in  the  educational 
history  of  France  for  nearly  two  centuries. 
This  was  the  Society  of  Jesus,  commonly 
known  as  the  Jesuits.  Legally  recognized  by  Papal  bull 
in  1540,  Loyola  and  his  little  band  went  forth  to  defend 
and  to  extend  the  Catholic  faith,  to  lead  the  Counter  Ref- 
ormation against  the  rapidly  increasing  forces  of  Protes- 
tantism. Beset  by  enemies  within  as  well  as  without 
the  church,  they  nevertheless  persisted  until,  supported  in 
large  measure  by  the  military  character  of  their  organiza- 
tion, they   had   fairly  hewn  out  a  place  for  themselves. 

1  Compayre,  Histoire  critique  des  doctrines  de  Vtducation  en  France  depuis 
le  seizieme  sQcle,  pp.  457-458.  Written  in  1879,  before  the  passage  of  the 
great  fundamental  laws  which  underlie  the  fine  primary  school  system  of 
France  to-day. 

2  Lemonnier,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  V.,  pt.  2,  pp.  287-288. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  41 

From  the  very  first  they  wisely  recognized  that  the  most 
effective  way  of  accomplishing  their  ends  was  to  lay  hold 
upon  the  youth  —  not  all  the  youth,  but  only  the  most 
promising  of  them,  the  probable  future  intellectual  leaders 
—  and  to  mould  them  during  their  most  impressionable 
period,  the  years  of  adolescence.  "  As  defined  by  Jesuit 
authors,  the  education  of  the  youth  means  the  gratuitous 
teaching  of  letters  and  science,  from  almost  the  first  begin- 
nings of  Grammar  up  to  the  culminating  science  of  Sacred 
Theology,  and  that  for  boys  and  students  of  every  kind, 
in  schools  open  to  all." * 

Loyola  and  his  first  companions  had  been  fellow  students 
together  at  Paris,  and  thither  the  Jesuits  turned  their 
attention.  After  years  of  struggle  they  estab-  ; 
lished  themselves  there,  and  in  1563  opened  ^ermonf 
the  College  of  Clermont,  later  known  as 
Louis-le-Grand  and  to-day  one  of  the  most  important  lyce'es 
of  Paris.  Here  then  was  the  university  again  compelled 
to  share  its  time-honored  rights  as  an  educational  institu- 
tion, but  the  College  of  Clermont  proved  to  be  a  doughtier 
antagonist  than  the  Eoyal  College.  The  instruction  in 
the  new  college  was  not  fundamentally  different  from  that 
in  the  other  colleges.  It  reiterated  the  humanistic  emphasis 
upon  Latin  and  introduced,  the_study ,  ol  Greek,  but  it 
rejected  absolutely  all  spontaneity,  all  tendency  toward 
individuality.  The  striking  innovation,  however,  was  the 
gratuitous  instruction,  and  this  was  perhaps  the  chief  reason 
why  the  university  could  not  cojqpete  with  it  successfully, 
for  the  professors  of  the  older  colleges  were  still  forced  to 
exact  fees  from  their  students.  In  the  meantime  the 
College  of  Clermont  grew  and  waxed  strong  in  spite  of  the 
persistent  efforts  of  the  university  to  drive  out  this  vigorous 
young  rival.  So  keen  was  the  competition  that  by  1579 
the  greater  part  of  the  university  colleges  were  half  empty 
and  scarcely  one  fifth  of  the  number  then  existing  had  not 
been  compelled  to  rent  their  rooms  to  persons  outside  the 

1  Hughes,  Loyola  and  the  educational  system  of  the  Jesuits,  p.  43. 


42  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

student  body.1    In  fact,  this  competition  together  with  the 

disasters  accompanying  the   Wars   of  the   League  worked 

such  havoc  among  the  other  colleges  that  sooner   or  later 

all  of  them  were  forced  to  close  their  doors,  and  the  College 

of   Clermont   was   the   only   one  whose   classes   were  not 

suspended   during   these   terrible   years.2      Soon  after  the 

entry  of  Henry  IV.  into  Paris  in  1594,  the  Jesuits  fell  into 

disfavor  on  account  of  suspected  complicity  in  the  attempt 

upon  the   king's   life,  and   they  were  expelled  from   Paris 

J  and  banished  from  the  realm.     Not  until  after  the  death  of 

|  Henry  IV.  in  1610  was  the  College  of  Clermont  completely 

J  restored   to   its  old  position,  and   it  was  eight  years  later 

before  the  Jesuits   were  finally  triumphant  in   undisputed 

,  power  in  their  college  with  the  opposition  from  the  univer- 

J  sity  practically  broken. 

The  success  of  the  Jesuits  has  been  due  in  no  small  degree 
to  the  military  character  of  their  discipline,  to  their  implicit 
obedience  of  their  superiors.  When  the  Ratio 
the1  Jesuit^  studiorum  appeared  in  its  final  form  in  1599, 
it  undoubtedly  embodied  the  most  advanced 
pedagogical  ideas  of  the  time  as  applied  to  the  aim  of  the 
Jesuit  system  of  education.  It  represented  the  best  work  of 
the  most  learned  of  the  order  for  years,  and  they  skilfully 
adapted  from  Sturm  and  the  other  humanists  as  well  as 
from  current  university  practice  whatever  they  found  service- 
able for  their  purposes.  Everything  was  carefully  prescribed 
even  to  the  minutest  detail  of  method,  and  no  deviation  was 
allowed.  When  to  nicety  of  method  are  added  determina- 
tion, enthusiasm,  and  a  subordination  of  personal  interests, 
we  find  little  difficulty  in  accounting  for  the  success  of  a 
movement  which  was  primarily  religious  but  incidentally 
educational,  especially  when  we  call  to  mind  the  utter  dis- 
organization of  the  forces  opposed  to  it. 

In  1594  Henry  IV.  found  Paris  in  a  state  of  almost  utter 
demoralization.     Of  the  forty-three  colleges  of  the  university 

1  Quicherat,  Histoire  de  Saiiite-Barbe,   II.,  p.  63. 

2  £mond,  Histoire  du  ColUge  de  Louis-le-Grand,  p.  67. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  43 

nominally  in  existence  at  that  time,1  not  one  was  ■  carrying 
on  its  work.     The  students  were   scattered;   the  buildings 
were  closed   or  were   serving   as    barracks   or    Educational 
stables;2    the    outlook    which    had    been    so      Condition 
auspicious   in  1562  was   shrouded  in  gloom ;       in  1594- 
the  university  was  veritably  worse  off  than  it  had  been  one 
hundred  and  fifty  years  earlier,  before  the  reform  of  Cardi- 
nal d'Estouteville. 

Almost  immediately  the  king  set  about  a  reform  of  the 
university.  It  is  interesting  to  trace  here  the  gradual  disso- 
lution of  the  power  of  the  Papacy  over  the  Evolution  of 
university,  and  so  over  education  in  general  in  Civil  Control 
FfanceTlCThe  university  owed  its  foundation  ofEducation- 
to  the 'pontifical  authority,  and  that  power  had  directed 
exclusively  the  first  two  great  reforms  in  its  history.  In 
1452  the  same  influence  dominated,  but  Charles  VII.  had 
appointed  parliamentary  commissioners  to  assist  the  Papal 
legate.  At  this  time,  1595,  it  is  a  royal  commission  that 
controls  the  situation,  but  the  ecclesiastical  authority  is 
nominally  represented  in  the  person  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Bourges  as  the  ^chairman  of  the  reform  body.  As  we  study 
the  educational  progress  in  France  during  the  last  few  years, 
we  see  that  this  church  influence  has  now  entirely  disap- 
peared, like  the  swing  of  the  pendulum  as  it  were,  from 
absolute  ecclesiastical  control  to  absolute  civil  control,  and 
this  evolution  has  required  almost  exactly  seven  hundred 
years. 

The  results  of  the  labors  of  this  commission  were  pub- 
lished in  the   Statutes   of  the   University   of   1600.     The 
influence  of  the  Renaissance  is  easily  discern-  Reform  of  tlie 
ible,  for  there  is  a  decided  broadening  of  .the     University, 
course  of  study 3  with  the  emphasis,  to  be  sure,        160°- 
upon  the  Latin  language.     Most  of.  the  important   classic 

1  For  the  list  of  colleges  in  Paris  in  1600,  see  Appendix  C. 

2  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris,  p.  2. 

8  For  the  course  of  study  of  the  university  colleges  in  1600,  see  Appen- 
dix B. 


44  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

writers  are  represented  (except  Martial,  Livy,  and  Tacitus), 
even  including  Tibullus,  Perseus,  and  Propertius,  "  and  some- 
times Plautus." l  The  place  given  to  Greek  in  the  program 
marks  a  decided  change.  Homer,  Hesiod,  Theocritus,  Plato, 
Demosthenes,  Isocrates,  and  Pindar  are  all  specifically  men- 
tioned, and  Greek  shares  with  Latin  the  honor  of  being 
required  for  promotion  to  the  class  in  philosophy.2  There  is 
a  radical  departure  from  the  old  subserviency  to  grammar  in 
its  narrow  sense,  for  of  the  six  hours  of  lessons  per  day,  only 
one  may  be  given  over  to  precepts  and  rules,  the  other  five 
being  devoted  to  study  and  consideration  of  the  original 
texts.3  The  old  requirement  as  to  the  use  of  Latin  as  a 
common  medium  of  communication  is  reiterated,  and  every 
student  is  forbidden  to  use  the  vernacular  within  the  college 
precincts  under  penalty  of  punishment  fitting  the  dereliction.4 
There  is  no  exact  indication  of  the  amount  of  time  this 
course  would  require,  but  it  seems  reasonable  to  suppose  it 
must  have  extended  over  a  period  of  five  years. 

thencours°ef.  The  work  of  the  last  tw0  is  Specifically  indi- 
cated, and  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  the  "  rules 
of  grammar,  selections  from  Terence,  from  the  letters  of 
Cicero,  from  the  Bucolics  of  Virgil,  and  from  other  authors  of 
equally  pure  Latinity  "  could  be  covered  in  less  than  one  year, 
and  "  the  selections  from  Sallust,  from  Caesar's  Commentaries, 
from  Cicero's  Be  Officiis  and  his  easier  Orations,  as  well  as 
Virgil  and  Ovid,  together  with  a  comparative  study  of  Latin 
and  Greek  grammar  "  could  be  completed  in  less  than  two 
years.  Assuming  as  we  must  that  the  boys  were  nine  years 
old  when  they  began  this  course,  and  were  already  familiar 
with  the  elements  of  the  Latin,  this  arrangement  corresponds 
fairly  clearly  with  Sturm's  course  at  Strasburg, 5  and  further- 
more it  agrees  exactly  with  the  time  allotment  of  the  Ratio 

1  Statua  Facultatis  Artium,  XXIII.,  in  Jourdain,  op.  cit.,  Pieces  justified- 
tives.  p.  4. 

2  Ibid.,  XXIII.,  XXXVI. 
8  Ibid.,  XXV. 

«  Ibid.,  XVI.-XVII. 

5  Schmidt,  La  vie  de  Jean  Sturm,  pp.  286-288. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  45 

studiorum  as  well  as  with  the  course  prescribed  for  the  Col- 
lege of  Narbonne  in  1599.  * 

On  the  other  hand  the  work  in  philosophy  is  very  carefully 
outlined,  even  to  the  daily  program.  It  consists  of^a  two- 
year  course  devoted  almost  exclusively  to  Aris- 
totleTbut  the  aim  is  directed  to  a  mastery  of 
tiEe"  content  rather  than  the  form,  toward  a  philosophical 
rather  than  a  grammatical  study  of  the  text. 2  In  the_second 
year  of  the  philosophy  course  we  find  the  beginning  of  math- 
ematics as  a  secondary  study,  one  hour  a  day  being  devoted 
to  Euclid. 3 

The  suggestions  of  Eamus  were  again  carried  out  in  regard 
to  the  fees  for  instruction.  These  had  been  steadily  creep- 
ing up,"  until  it  was  almost  impossible  for  a  poor  student  to 
finish  his  course,  much  less  to  complete  his  work  for  any  of 
the  higher  degrees.  At  this  time  the  regents  were  absolutely 
forbidden  under  threat  of  loss  of  position  and  possible  ad- 
ditional punishment  at  the  hands  of  a  magistrate,  to  demand 
or  even  to  accept  from  a  student  more  than  five  or  at  most 
six  gold  crowns  per  year  (between  fifty-three  and  sixty-four 
francs  of  the  money  to-day).  The  charges  for  the  pupils 
below  the  third  class  were  about  four  crowns. 4  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  the  price  of  board  was  quite  apart  from  these 
fees  for  instruction,  but  this  was  fixed  in  October  of  each 
year  by  a  standing  committee  whose  jurisdiction  extended 
over  all  the  colleges. 5 

In  August  of  the  second  year  of  the  philosophy  course,  the 
candidates  for  the  baccalaureate  were  examined  on  the  sub- 
jects of  logic,  ethics,  physics,  and  metaphysics, 
by  a  special  commission  appointed  for  that  pur-  e^eei>- 
pose.  The  successful  candidates  were  then  examined  for 
the  license  by  another  commission,  and  in  September  they 
received  the  master's  degree.    Thus  those  that  survived  these 

1  F£libien,  Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Paris,  V.,  p.  800. 

2  Statua  Facultatis  Artium,  XLIL,  op.  cit. 
8  Ibid.,  XLI. 

4  Ibid.,  XXXI I.,  XLV. 
6  Ibid.,  LXVII. 


46  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

ordeals  were  ready  to  begin  teaching  at  the  opening  of  the 
university  in  October.  *  According  to  this  plan  the  interval  be- 
tween the  bachelor's  and  the  master's  degrees  has  been  con- 
siderably shortened.  The  first  of  these  is  purely  an  academic 
degree  based  on  scholarship,  the  license  implies  the  posses- 
sion of  fitness  to  teach,  and  the  master's  degree  is  merely  the 
formal  admission  of  the  candidate  into  the  teaching  body  of 
the  university.  The  possession  of  this  higher  degree  from 
the  University  of  Paris  (or  adoption  by  the  masters  of  the 
university,  which  was  recognized  as  the  equivalent)  was  ab- 
solutely required  of  all  teachers  of  grammar,  rhetoric,  or 
philosophy  in  the  colleges  of  the  university.2  In  other 
words,  the  master's  degree  was  the  minimum  qualification  of 
the  secondary  teacher. 

The  duty  of  inspecting  all  the  colleges  in  the  first  month 
of  his  incumbency  was  again  imposed  upon 
the  rector. 

These  statutes  have  been  described  thus  at  length  because 
in  the  first  place  they  mark  the  beginning  of  the  modern 

Importance  university>  and  again  because,  save  for  various 
of  this  modifications  introduced  from  time  to  time,  es- 
Eeform.  peciallv  in  1626  and  in  the  last  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  these  three  hundred  and  ten  articles  re- 
mained the  statutes  of  the  university  until  its  suppression 
in  1793. 

The  Jesuits  were  not  the  only  religious  body  that  was  in- 
terested in  the  education  of  the  youth.  The  seventeenth 
The  Work   f   centurv  in  France  was  marked  by  the  rise  of 

the  Port-      two  other  organizations  within  the  purview  of 

Royalists.  the  church,  the  Port-Koyalists  and  the  Orato- 
rians,  both  of  whom  came  into  active  competition  with  the 
older  order.  The  first  of  these  was  crushed  out  (1660), 
while  the  Oratorians  lived  to  see  the  suppression  of  the  order 
of  the  Jesuits  and  even  inherited  many  of  their  colleges  when 
the  latter  were  banished  from  France  in  1764.     Although 

1  Slatua  Facultatis  Artium,  XLVII.,  L.,  LIII. 

2  find.,  LVI. 


/ 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  47 

the  schools  of  the  Port-Koyalists  had  such  a  transitory  exist- 
ence (less  than  twenty  years  at  the  most),  yet  their  spirit 
long  survived  the  dissolution  of  their  schools,  and  they  left  a 
lasting  impression  on  French  education.  The  study  of  the 
French  language  was  with  them  a  real  subject  of  instruction, 
even  though  the  French  was  often  a  translation  of  the  Latin 
classics,  but  it  is  to  their  lasting  credit  that  they  tried  to  lay 
a  good  foundation  in  the  vernacular  before  beginning  the 
study  of  a  foreign  tongue.  They  preferred  to  learn  the  Latin 
through  the  French  rather  than  the  French  through  the 
Latin.  VAnother  radical  departure  from  established  custom 
was  in  the  place  they  gave  to  the  rational  process.  They 
substituted  Descartes  for  the  vestiges  of  scholasticism  that 
still  persisted  in  the  colleges  of  the  Jesuits,  and  sought  not 
to  form  good  Latinists  but  rather  to  send  out  young  men  of 
independent  judgment.  Nevertheless,  as  has  been  pointed 
out  before,  the  Port-Eoyal  system  was  an  ideal  rather  than  a 
plan  for  general  application.  Aside  from  the  principles  of 
method  noted  above,  its  chief  merit  depended  upon  small 
groups  of  picked  pupils  (not  more  than  five  or  six  in  a  class), 
and  the  fact  that  they  were  all  directed  by  teachers  of  supe- 
rior attainments,  ideals  which  are  impossible  of  realization  in 
any  public  school  system.  ^ 

^Formed  like  the  other  religious  orders  primarily  for  the 
support  of  the  Church,  the  Oratorians  turned  their  efforts  to  the 
recruitment    of   the   priesthood    and    assumed 
the  responsibilities  of  a  teaching  body  in  order     oratorians 
the  better  to  attain  their  primary  end.     After 
their  formal  registration  by  the  Parliament  of  Paris  in  1613, 
they  spread  with  marvellous  rapidity  and  all  unconsciously 
soon  became  strong  rivals   of  the  Jesuits.     By   1629  they 
already  had  some  fifty  establishments  in   various  parts  of 
France.1     Like  the  Port-Royalists  the  Oratorians  laid  much 
stressjra  jnstruction  in  the  vernacular,  the  first  years  of  the 
instruction  in  grammar  being   entirely  in  French.2     Such 

1  Perratjd,  L'Oratoire  de  France  au  XVIle  et  au  XIXe  siecle,  pp.  49,  54. 

2  At  Juilly  a  sixth  class  of  grammar  was  established  for  this  purpose,  fol- 


48  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

was  the  vitality  of  the  Latin,  however,  that  its  use  was  made 
obligatory  from  the  fourth  class  up.  The  history  (and  at 
Juilly,  their  most  important  college,  there  was  always  a 
special  master  for  that  subject)  included  sacred  history  in 
the  two  lowest  classes,  Greek  and  Koman  in  the  next  three, 
and  French  history  in  the  three  most  advanced  classes. 
»This  latter  was  looked  upon  as  particularly  vital,  and  the 
instruction  from  the  lowest  to  the  highest  class  was  all  in 
the  native  tongue.1  Geography  was  taught  in  connection 
with  the  history,  while  physics  and  mathematics  (including 
algebra,  geometry,  plane  and  spherical  trigonometry,  analyti- 
cal geometry,  and  the  calculus)  were  the  subjects  of  special 
instruction.2  The  Oratorians  and  the  Port-Koyalists  are 
equally  to  be  credited  with  beginning  the  study  of  grammar 
in  the  vernacular,  but  for  the  emphasis  placed  upon  history, 
mathematics,  and  physics,  the  Oratorians  have  to  share  the 
honors  with  none.  In  fact,  in  the  course  in  French  his- 
tory, as  Holland  bears  eloquent  witness,  the  Oratorians  were 
more  than  a  century  in  advance  of  the  colleges  of  the  uni- 
versity. "The  youths  who  frequent  the  college  know  the 
names  of  the  consuls  of  Eome,  and  are  often  ignorant  of  those 
of  our  kings;  they  know  the  great  deeds  of  Themistocles, 
of  Alcibiades,  .  .  .  they  know  not  those  of  Duguesclin,  of 
Bayard  .  .  .  ;  in  a  word  the  great  men  who  have  made 
our  nation  illustrious  .  .  .  have  made  no  impression  on 
them."3  Thus  we  find  that  the  classics  have  ceased  to 
monopolize  the  instruction  of  the  colleges,  and  the  courses 
are  being  framed  more  and  more  with  the  idea  of  turning 
out  boys  with  an  all-around  equipment,  with  a  liberal 
education. 

Of  these  three,  religious  teaching  bodies  the  Jesuits  were 
by  far  the  least  progressive,  for  they  continually  harked  back 

lowed  some  years  later  by  a  seventh,  exclusively  devoted  to  the  study  of 
French  grammar,  and  to  a  few  elementary  notions  of  sacred  history.  Hamel, 
Hisioire  de  I'abbaye  et  du  colUge  de  Juilly,  p.  215. 

1  Perraud,  op.  cit.,  pp.  220-221. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  222. 

3  Rolland,  Plan  d' Education,  p.  105. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  49 

to  the  Constitutions  of  Loyola  and  the  Ratio  studiorum  of 
his  successors.     The  Ratio  studiorum  of  1599  was  "found 
to  be  not  only  new,  but  complete,  and  good  for 
centuries  to  come." 1    So  "  good  "  in  fact,  that    Conservatism 
save  for  a  few  modifications,  particularly  in  and 

1832,  and  these  not  fundamental,  it  remains 
the  Magna  Charta  of  the  order  to-day,  and  the  youth  are  still 
taught  under  the  influence  of  the  Jesuitic  humanism  of  three 
hundred  years  ago.  In  the  words  of  one  of  the  generals  of 
the  nineteenth  century  in  speaking  of  instruction  in  the 
lower  studies :  "  The  study  of  Latin  and  Greek  letters  must 
always  remain  intact  and  be  the  chief  object  of  attention."  2 
However  that  may  be,  the  Jesuits  of  the  seventeenth  century 
far  outdistanced  both  of  their  ecclesiastical  rivals  in  the 
popular  favor,  and  succeeded  in  crushing  one  of  them  abso- 
lutely. To  the  old  College  of  Clermont  were  annexed 
successively  various  adjoining  pieces  of  property  as  the 
student  body  increased,  so  that  before  the  end  of  the  century 
there  were  no  fewer  than  five  hundred  resident  pupils.3  The 
favor  of  the  king,  who  was  flattered  by  the  Jesuits'  crafty 
change  of  the  old  college  name  in  his  honor,  attracted  to  its 
halls  the  scions  of  the  nobility  of  the  realm,  and  the  College 
Louis-le-Grand  under  royal  patronage  became  the  most  flour- 
ishing institution  of  Paris.  Encouraged  by  their  success 
here  they  multiplied  their  colleges  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land. 

The  Jesuits  were  not  the  source  of  all  the  troubles  of  the 
university  during  these  years.    The  lower  or  grammar  schools, 
which  were  as  old  as  the  university  itself  and  The  Gram'mar 
had  remained   under  the   jurisdiction   of  the      Schools  of 
Precentor  of  Notre  Dame,  had  been  gradually  the  Catnedral- 
pushing  their  work  upward  until  grammar,  according  to  the 
interpretation  of    their  director,  Included  all  the  classic 

1  Hughes,  op.  cit.,  p.  88. 

2  General  Roothaan  writing  in  1832,  quoted  by  Hughes,  op.  cit.,  p. 
292. 

8  Emond,  Histoiredu  college  Louis-le-Grand,  p.  137. 

4 


50  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

studies  up  to  philosophy.1  He  claimed  the  right  to  have 
this  grammar  taugHTFy  whom,  how,  and  wherever,  within 
the  limits  of  Paris  and  its  environs,  he  saw  fit.  These 
schools,  in  1675,  had  rather  more  than  five  thousand  pupils, 
and  the  university,  feeling  that  they  were  encroaching  dan- 
gerously and  irresponsibly  upon  the  rights  of  its  colleges, 
prayed  the  king  that  they  be  confined  within  their  ancient 
limits.2  Although  Louis  XIV.  in  a  letter  to  parliament 
forbade  the  teachers  of  these  schools  to  teach  anything  more 
than  reading,  writing,  and  the  elements  of  the  Latin  lan- 
guage, and  to  receive  any  pupil  more  than  nine  years  of  age,3 
the  question  was  by  no  means  settled.  It  dragged  along 
until  after  the  opening  of  the  new  century.  Nevertheless  it 
was  these  same  grammar  schools  or  "  little  schools  "  as  they 
were  called  (not  to  be  confounded  with  the  "little  schools" 
of  the  Port-Eoyalists),  that  continued  to  carry  the  brunt  of 
preparatory  work  for  entrance  to  the  arts  faculty  of  the 
university. 

In  the  face  of  all  this  competition  from  the  lower  schools 
and  the  religious  bodies,  together  with  the  internal  dissen- 
sions arising  from  the  philosophical  and  theo- 
thC  n1  e^es  °-ft     logical  questions  that  were  coming  to  the  fore, 
during  the     the  university  as  a  whole  was  far  from  pros- 
S(Jenturntl1    Perous-     The  reforms  of  the  early  years  of  the 
century  had  done  much,  but  much  yet  remained 
to  be  done.     From  the  records  of  the  rectoral  inspection  of 
1642,  the  discipline   as  a  whole   showed  a  commendable 
progress,  but  of  the  forty-three  colleges  in  existence  in  1600, 
there  were  only  four"or  five  that  could  compare  favorably 
with  the  best  institutions  of  the  Jesuits.4     They  began  more 
and  more  to  imitate  the  methods  of  the  latter,  but  found  the 

1  Joly,  TraitU  historique  des  6coles  Episcopates  et  eccUsiastiques,  p.  304. 

2  Requeste  au  roy  contre  les  petites  escholes,  in  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  Uni- 
versity de  Paris,  Pieces  justificatives,  p.  104. 

8  Jourdain,  op.  ciL,  p.  240. 

4  These  were  Harcourt,  Beauvais,  Grassins,  Cardinal  Lemoine,  and  Mon- 
taigu,  without  considering  Navarre  and  Sorbonne.  Jourdain,  op.  cit.,  p. 
145. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  TO   THE  REVOLUTION         51 

free  tuition  scheme  of  the  churchmen  a  severe  handicap. 
With  the  opening  of  the  College  Mazarin  jn  1661,  from  the  J 
bequest  of  Cardinal  Mazarm,  the  university  was  "in  position  V 
to  compete  with  the  Jesuits  on  their  own  terms,  for  here  | 
there  were  no  tuition  fees.     This  college  entered  immedi- 
ately upon  a  career  of  prosperity  that  continued  uninterrupt- 
edly until  the  Eevolution,  never  having  fewer  than  six  hundred 
students,  and  in  prosperous  years  even  running  as  high  as 
twelve  hundred.1 

Shortly  before  the  passage  from  the  seventeenth  to  the 
eighteenth  century,  thanks  to  the  wise  administration  of 
Eollin,  there  was  a  decided  improvement  both  Rollin  and  the 
in  the  discipline  and  in  the  academic  work  of  Traite"  des 
the  university.  Eector  from  1694  to  1696,  he  tiudes' 
conscientiously  made  the  rounds  of  all  the  colleges,  and  with 
a  kind  but  firm  hand  sought  to  modify  their  discipline  and 
instruction  in  accordance  with  the  principles  enunciated  later 
in  his  Traite  des  etudes.  Although  strangely  overestimated 
by  Villemain,  who  said  in  the  second  quarter  of  the  last  cen- 
tury that  since  the  publication  of  this  work  there  had  been 
no  progress,2  nevertheless  from  the  point  of  view  of  actual 
practice  it  was  undoubtedly  the  most  important  pedagogical 
treatise  of  his  age.  Classicist  though  he  was  and  faithful  to 
classical  traditions,  he  wrote  this  work  in  French  in  order 
to  appeal  to  a  larger  circle  than  he  could  have  reached 
through  the  Latin.  This  compromise  is  all  the  more  note- 
worthy when  one  considers  that  his  first  work  in  the  vernac- 
ular was  begun  when  he  was  more  than  sixty  years 
of  age.  It  shows  the  slow  but  steady  progress  of  the 
native  language  in  displacing  the  Latin  in  the  world  of 
letters. 

In  the  Traite  des  etudes,  the  aims  of  university  instruction 
(that  is,  secondary  instruction  within  the  author's  meaning) 
are  conceived  to  be :  (1)  the  cultivation  of  the  mind ;  (2)  the 

1  Jourdain,  op.  cit.,  p.  264. 

2  Villemain,  Tableau  de  la  literature  franqaise  au  XVIII*  siecle,  I., 
p.  226. 


52  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

development  of  the  moral  character ;  and  (3)  the  formation 
of  the  Christian  man.1  He  follows  the  Oratorians  and  the 
Port-Eoyalists  in  the  importance  of  the  French  language 
for  the  beginning  pupils,  but  he  shows  his  partiality  for  the 
classics  in  the  elaborate  treatment  of  instruction  in  Greek 
and  Latin.  Nevertheless  there  is  no  attempt,  as  in  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  Jesuits,  to  teach  the  Latin  as  a  living  lan- 
guage, but  it  is  considered  as  a  means  of  laying  under  tribute 
the  vast  treasures  of  the  classic  world.  Not  merely  to  form 
good  Latinists,  but  rather  to  develop  young  men  of  fine  ap- 
preciation and  good  taste,  who  know  the  right  and  will  do 
the  right,  this  is  the  goal  he  sets  out  to  reach.2  His  program 
in  history  is  worked  out  nearly  as  minutely,  but,  strange  to 
say,  it  is  limited  to  sacred  and  ancient  history.  In  his  intro- 
ductory note  he  makes  this  astounding  statement :  "  I  do  not 
believe  it  possible  to  find  time  during  the  course  to  devote  to 
the  history  of  France.  ...  I  confess  that  I  have  not  applied 
myself  sufficiently  to  it ;  and  I  am  ashamed  to  be  in  a  way 
a  stranger  in  my  own  country  after  having  journeyed  over 
so  many  others."  3  He  suggests,  however,  that  the  students 
should  be  encouraged  to  read  the  history  of  their  own  coun- 
try in  their  leisure  hours.  How  far  behind  the  conceptions 
of  the  Oratorians  and  the  Port-Eoyalists ! 

As  he  himself  modestly  observes,  save  for  some  few  ex- 
pressions of  his  own  particular  views,  notably  in  the  instruc- 
tion in  French  and  history,  he  has  no  intention  of  writing  "  a 
new  plan  of  studies,  nor  of  proposing  new  rules  or  a  new 
method  of  instructing  the  youth,  but  he  merely  intends  to 
note  what  already  prevails  in  the  University  of  Paris."4 
But  one  ought  to  add  that  from  beginning  to  end  it  is  all 
tempered  by  his  individual  interpretation,  and  it  breathes 
throughout  the  kindly  and  gentle  spirit  of  its  author.     At 

1  Eollin,  Be  la  maniere  d'enseigner  et  d'Mudier  les  belles  lettres  (com- 
monly known  as  Traite  des  etudes),  Discours  prttiminaire,  p.  i. 

2  iud.,  pp.  xcviii.-xcix.,  cm. 

«  Ibid.,  III.,  p.  n. 
4  Ibid. ,  I.,  p.  civ. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  53 

least  for  the  next  half  century  it  stood  as  the  ideal  which 
the  colleges  of  the  university  sought  to  attain. 

A  few  years  before,  in  1719,  the  young  king,  Louis  XV., 
through  the  Duke  of  Orleanv&ad  ordered  that  in  return  for  a 
diversion  of  some^StataJunda to  the  exchequer      ' 

n  t? •  •  •  ^  •  iiii  Gratuity  of 

of  the  university,  instruction  shoulgUie .  gra-     instruction, 

tllitous  in  all  its  full  course  colleges.1      At  that   and  Professors' 

time  the  salaries  of  professors  of  philosophy 
and  rhetoric  were  fixed  at  1000  livres,  800  livres  for  those 
of  the^secoTr6T"and  thircTcIasses,  andToOO  livres  for  those  of 
the  fourth,  fifth,  and  sixth  classes.2  This  action  of  the  regent 
was  received  with  great  popular  approval.  It  indicated  a 
more  widespread  application  of  the  innovation  begun  at  the 
College  Mazarin  more  than  thirty  years  before,  and  it  put  the 
ten  colleges  to  which  it  applied  in  position  to  compete  suc- 
cessfully with  the  Jesuits  for  the  popular  favor.  Neverthe- 
less the  standard  set  by  a  decadent  royalty  was  swept 
away  with  that  power  itself,  and  to-day  the  gratuity  of 
secondary  instruction  vet  stands  as  an  ideal  for  France  to 
attain. 

In  1762  appeared  the  jSmile,  that  suggestive  but  extremely 
fantastic  and  Utopian  scheme  of  education.  Any  analysis 
of  its  contents  is  foreign  to  the  scope  of  this  The 

study,  for  its  importance  lies jrot_in  any  im-  Educational 
mediate  effect  on  the  educational  practice  of  Revolution- 
the  time,  but  in  the  influence  it  exercised  on  subsequent 
educational  thought.  In  this  latter  respect  it  was  an  epoch- 
making  treatise  that  has  exacted  tribute  from  all  the  great 
educational  writers  since  that  day.  The  publication  of  the 
iZmile  together  with  the  sweeping  away  of  the  staunchest 
supporters  of  the  old  educational  doctrines  in  the  expulsion 
of  the  Jesuits,   which  occurred  that  same  year,  seems  to 

1  Lettres  patentes  de  Louis  XV.,  April  14,  1719,  in  Joukdain,  op.  cit., 
Pieces  justificatives,  pp.  167-168. 

2  Equivalent  to-day  to  from  $200  to  $125.  Not  a  very  large  income  to  be 
sure,  but  it  must  be  remembered  tbat  these  men  were  all  celibates,  that  they 
had  also  their  living  at  their  college,  besides  extra  fees  of  various  sorts.  The 
greater  value  of  money  in  those  days  must  also  be  kept  in  mind. 


54  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

suggest  that  the  educational  revolution  preceded  the  political 
revolution,  and  that  the  former  dates  really  from  1762,  when 
the  old  teaching  force  of  the  colleges  disappeared  from  the 
scene.1 

The  fall  of  the  Jesuits  had  come  about  somewhat  sud- 
denly. Although  the  gratuity  of  instruction  in  the  full- 
course  colleges  had  enabled  the  university  to 
th6j'all'tf  compete  with  the  Jesuits  on  more  than  even 
terms,  yet  the  College  of  Louis-le-Grand  had 
easily  held  its  own,  due  in  no  small  degree  to  the  fact  that 
the  education  there  often  bordered  on  the  spectacular.  The 
college  and  the  order  seemed  to  be  prospering  more  than 
ever  when  suddenly  the  crash  came.  The  attempted  assassi- 
nation of  Louis  XV.  by  a  former  domestic  of  the  college,  the 
expulsion  of  the  society  from  Portugal,  on  account  of  com- 
plicity in  a  plot  against  the^life  of  the  king,  the  bankruptcy 
of  one  of  their  order  who  had  been  engaged  in~th«  West 
India  trade,  all  came  in  rapid  succession.  This  last  was 
really  the  most  serious  blow  to  the  order  in  France,  for  it 
resulted  .in  a  general  investigation  conducted  by  the  Parlia- 
ment oi  Paris  as  well  as"  by  the  parliaments  throughout  the 
kingdom.  At  this  time  it  seemed  as  though  the  stored-up 
hatred  of  years  burst  forth.  The  political  question  was 
undoubtedly  uppermost,  but  evidence  is  not  wanting  to  show 
that  there  was  wide-spread  dissatisfaction  with  the  Jesuit 
methods  and  subjects  of  instruction,2  and  that  their  moral 
conscientiousness  was  not  above  reproach.3  Be  that  as  it 
may,  in  August,  1762,  the  Jesuits  were  ejected  from  all  their 
colleges,  and  their  property  was  sold  to  satisfy  their  credi- 
tors. In  1764  the  order  was  suppressed  throughout  the 
realm  of  France,  and  nine  years  later  it  was  formally  abol- 
ished by  the  Papal  See.     By  this  first  act  the  Jesuits  lost  no 

1  CompayriS,  Histoire  critique  d#s  doctrines  de  I  'Education  en  France,  II., 
p.  5. 

2  Of.  Holland,  Recueil  de  plusieurs  des  ouvrages  du  president  Holland, 
1782,  pp.  394,  543,  565,  579-580,  717. 

8  Ibid.,  pp.  395,  452,  542,  730. 


THE  RENAISSANCE  TO   THE  REVOLUTION         5.5 



fewer   than   forty   colleges  within  the   jurisdiction  of  the 

Parliament  of  Paris  alone,  and  in  the  rest  of  France  their 
colleges  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  provincial  universities 
or  were  directed  by  the  Oratorians  or  other  teaching  bodies. 
In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  creditors  to  have  the  Paris 
property  sold,  the  parliament  declared  that  the  College 
Louis-le-Grand  must  never  be  used  for  anything  but  educa- 
tional purposes.  The  universitv__trajisifirri3d  its  official  seat 
to  the  home  of  its  former  rivals,  all  the  colleges  of  Paris 
that  were  not  "  full  course  (twenty-eight  in  number)  were 
formally  amalgamated  with  Louis-le-Grand,1  providing  one 
hundred  and  eighty-five  effective  scholarships,  which  number 
was  subsequently  increased  to  six  hundred,  and  for  the  first 
time  in  two  hundred  years  the  university  was  left  in  unjlis- 
puted  control  of  secondary  and  superior  education  in  Paris. 
Thus  the  secondary  education  was  concentrated  in  the  ten  ^ 
full-course  colleges  that  still  survived.  ,-*— — ■ 

The  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits  created  a  great  gap  in  the    ** 
ranks  of  the   teaching   force   throughout  the   country.     It 
required  only  a  stroke  of  the  pen  to  declare      p  ,,    ,, 
these  thousands  of  positions  vacant,  but  how    Educational 
different  a  matter  to  fill  them  again !     In  its      Plan' 1768- 
dilemma  the  Parliament  of  Paris  appealed  to  the  other  par- 
liaments and  to  the  universities  for  help  in  drawing  up  some 
general  plan  of  education.     The  result  of  this  request  is 
embodied  in  the  educational  plan  of  Eolland  d'Erceville, 
which  was  presented  in  a  report  to  parliament  in  1768.     In 
many  respects  this  merely  reiterated  the  doctrines  of  Eollin 
and  the  Port-Eoyalists,  but  it  suggested  others  which,  if  not 
original,  were  yet  innovations  in  the  educational  conceptions 
of  the   university.     Holland's   ideas   of  the   importance  of  ^ 
history  are  even  more  radical  than  those  of  Eollin.     Like 
the  latter  he  insists  that  history  be  taught  in  every  class 
from  the  lowest   through  the   rhetoric,2  but  he  wants  it 

1  Jourdain,  op.  cit.,  Pieces  justificatives,  pp.  215-220. 

2  At  this  time  the  classes  were  respectively,  the  sixth,  fifth,  fourth,  third, 
second  or  humanities,  rhetoric,  and  two  years  of  philosophy. 


56  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

divorced  from  the  course  in  grammar  and  intrusted  to  the 
hands  of  special  teachers,  and  furthermore  he  would  empha- 
size modern  and  national  history.1  Not  only  is  a  more 
regular  and  extensive  study  of  French  to  be  undertaken,  but 
more  important  still,  Trench  is  to  be  added  to  Latin  and 
Greek  as  a  source  from  which  to  draw  illustrations  for 
the  principles  of  rhetoric.2  Kolland,  however,  did  not 
quite  dare  to  sanction  the  radical  measure  of  the  Minister 
of  Dijon  who  ordered  that  the  French  replace  the  Latin 
and  Greek  for  this  purpose.  One  of  the  most  attrac- 
tive points  about  a  comparative  study  of  programs  is  to 
trace  the  gradual  conquest  of  the  vernacular  over  the 
classic  tongues.  Kolland  further  urges  the  appointment 
of  special  professors  of  mathematics  and  experimental 
physics,  justifying  his  recommendations  by  the  success  of 
similar  innovations  at  the  Colleges  of  Mazarin  and  Navarre 
respectively.3 

It  is  in  the  matter  of  organization  of  instruction  that  Hol- 
land's suggestions  were  the  most  valuable,  for  Napoleon  in- 
corporated some  of  them  bodily  into  his  plan  for  an  imperial 
v  university  forty  years  later,  especially  that  relating  to  the 
centralization  of  educational  control.  This  led  to  a  seques- 
tration of  the  three  orders  of  education,  and  for  fear  that  the 
system  might  become  top  heavy,  Kolland  advocated  a  reduc- 
tion in  the  number  of  full-course  colleges,  replacing  some  of 
them  by  pedagogies  or  part-course  colleges  where  the  instruc- 
tion would  be  limited  to  religion,  ethics,  French  grammar, 
the  elements  of  Latin  and  of  history.4  In  this  suggestion  of 
less  lavish  opportunities  for  secondary  instruction,  Kolland 
was  merely  restating  the  idea  that  Kichelieu  had  brought 
forward  long  before  and  that  reappeared  nearly  a  century 
later  in  Bismarck's  fear  of  an  "  educated  proletariat."  "  One 
should  never  lose   sight   of  the   principle,"   said   Kolland, 


1  Rolland,  op.  cit,  pp.  118-123. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  112. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  139,  144. 

A       T7    •  7  nn 


4  Ibid.,  p.  30. 


THE  RENAISSANCE   TO   THE  REVOLUTION  57 

"that  each  one  ought  to  have  within  his  reach  the  edu- 
cation for  which  he  is  best  fitted."1  By  this  he  meant 
the  universal  opportunity  for  education,  provided  the  in- 
dividual was  fitted  to  receive  it,  but  he  never  seems 
to  have  reached  the  grander  and  more  vitally  fundamen- 
tal ideas  for  the  State,  of  gratuitous  and  compulsory 
education. 

One  of  the  most  serious  handicaps  in  the  way  of  realizing  4 

this  universality  oF"oppbrtunity  was  the  lack  of  competent 
teachers,  a  situation  that  had  been  incalculably  aggravated 
by  the  ^recent  measures  against  the  Jesuits.  In  order  to 
overcome  this  difficulty,  Eolland,  in  accordance  with  the  sug- 
gestion of  one  Abbe*  Pelissier  that  had  appeared  shortly 
before,  proposed  to  establish  a  training^.chaQl-JQX-^eachers  in  *~*~ 
each  university  centre.2  The  details  of  the  plan  thus 
brought  forward  were  strikingly  similar  to  the  great  scheme 
of  the  Convention  that  had  such  an  ephemeral  existence  a 
few  years  later,  but  which  was  the  first  practical  attempt  to 
put  the  training  school  idea  into  existence  in  France.  One 
of  the  primary  aims  to  be  served  by  such  a  school  was  to 
bring  the  standard  of  the  provincial  teachers  up  to  that  in  *-* 
Paris,  so  "  that  all  the  French  should  share  alike  in  the 
treasures  of  the  sciences  that  are  accumulating  from  day  to 
day  —  in  a  word,  that  the  time  would  come  when  one  could 
no  longer  distinguish  a  young  man  brought  up  in  the  prov- 
inces from  one  who  had  been  educated  in  the  capital." 3 
Thus  we  see  that  the  plan  of  Eolland  was  no  chimerical 
scheme  like  Eousseau's  Anile,  but  bristled  with  sound 
sense  and  practical  ideas.  The  time  was  not  then  ripe,  ^ 
however,  for  accomplishing  these  reforms.  It  needed  the 
drastic  purgation  of  the  Eevolutionary  period,  followed 
by  the  constructive  genius  of  Napoleon,  to  put  them  into 
effect. 

The  end  of  the  university  was  not  far  off.    Almost  exactly 

1  Rolland,  op.  cit.y  p.  25. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  59. 
8  Ibid.,  p.  22. 


58  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

a  quarter  of  a  century  later  the  decree  of  the  Convention  of 
September,  1793,  abolished  the  old  order  of  things  educa- 
tional, and  the  full-course  colleges  went  down  to  ruin  with 
the  ancient  University  of  Paris  that^had  all  but  finished  its 
sixth  century  of  usefulness. 


CHAPTEE  IV 

THE  REVOLUTION  AND  THE  PROGRESS  OF 
THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY 

"  The  laws  of  education  vary  as  the  government." 1 

This  fundamental  truth  gives  us  the  key-note  to  the  charac- 
teristics of  educational  legislation  during  the  Revolutionary 
period  in  French  history.  AU  was  confusion 
in  political  life ;  all  was  chaos  in  educational  th^Rfvolution 
affairs.  The  bill  passed  to-day  was  likely  to 
be  repealed  to-morrow,  or  perhaps  the  government  that 
voted  the  new  law  would  cease  to  exist  before  the  changes 
contained  therein  could  become  operative.  Nevertheless, 
in  spite  of  all  the  transitoriness  of  the  acts  of  the  governing 
bodies,  certain  great  principles  were  enunciated  then  that 
have  since  been  elaborated  in  a  more  practical  form  and 
have  been  incorporated  in  the  educational  creed  of  the 
nation.  The  astonishing  fact  is  not  that  the  national  as- 
semblies from  1789  to  the  beginning  of  the  Consulate  did 
not  leave  their  educational  projects  in  a  more  finished  state, 
but  rather  that  they  found  time  during  that  period  of  kalei- 
doscopic changes  to  consider  educational  questions  at  all. 
Yet  of  all  the  committees  of  the  Convention,  the  Committee 
of  Public  Instruction  was  second  in  activity  only  to  the 
Committee  of  Public  Safety,  and  that,  too,  during  1793,  the 
"terrible  year."  Whatever  efforts  had  thus  far  been  made 
to  popularize  education,  particularly  secondary  and  superior, 
and  give  it  universal  application,  certainly  had  not  been 
successful.  The  education  in  the  colleges  under  the  old 
regime  had  unquestionably  been  for  the  few.     Save  for  some 

1  Montesquieu,  De  Vesprit  des  lois,  bk.  IV. 


60  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

sporadic  efforts,  it  had  all  been  restricted  to  the  domain  of 
letters,  and  had  ministered  very  little  to  the  practical  needs 
of  society.  Indeed,  aside  from  the  time  when  Latin  was 
essential  for  church  purposes  or  necessary  in  the  diplomatic 
service,  what  utilitarian  value  had  there  been  in  the  classic 
learning  which  formed  the  body  of  instruction  in  the  college 
courses  ?  The  impulses,  and  that  is  equivalent  to  saying  the 
acts,  of  the  Eevolutionary  assemblies  were  mainly  in  protest 
against  everything  that  had  been.  The  university  and  its 
colleges  had  been-"-trIerefore  they  must  go.  This  destruc- 
tion, however,  was  only  preliminary  to  the  reconstruction 
that  should  rehabilitate  them  on  a  grander,  more  exten- 
sive, more  national,  more  socially  useful  scale  than  before. 
Through  the  developments  in  the  history  of  French  second- 
ary instruction  that  we  have  cursorily  sketched  up  to  this 
period,  the  ordinary  man  had  scarcely  been  considered  in 
the  educational  scheme;  yet  ever  since  the  Battle  of  Bou- 
vines  sounded  the  death  knell  of  the  knight  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  this  "common  man"  had  been  coming  nearer  and 
nearer  to  the  front  of  the  stage.  Instead  of  the  supernu- 
merary to  be  ordered  about  at  will,  he  had  been  steadily  grow- 
ing in  importance  until  at  the  time  of  the  French  Eevolution 
he  played  the  leading  part.  "How  have  ye  treated  us?" 
says  Carlyle.  "  How  have  ye  taught  us,  fed  us,  and  led  us, 
while  we  toiled  for  you  ?  The  answer  can  be  read  in  flames 
over  a  nightly  summer  sky." 1  A  more  pregnant  answer  still 
may  be  read  in  the  declaration  of  the  Mights  of  Man,  and  in 
the  applications  of  these  principles  in  the  subsequent  de- 
crees of  the  Constitutional  Assembly.  This,  in  turn,  was 
shortly  followed  by  the  Constitution  of  1791  which  guaran- 
teed the  creation  of  universal  public  instruction,  gratuitous 
in  its  lower  stages.2 

Instead  of  the  religious  ideal,  the  notion  of  personal  safety 
in  the  sight  of  the  Almighty,  that  had  formed  the  basis  of 
the  educational   efforts  of   the  Middle  Ages,  and  that  had 

1  Carlyle,  French  revolution,  bk.  VI.,  ch.  3. 

2  Constitution  of  1791,  title  I. 


PROGRESS  OF   THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        61 

persisted  throughout  the  period  of  the  Eenaissance  and  the 
Keformation,  it  is  now  the  destiny  of  the  political  world, 
the  safety  of  the  State,  that  underlies  the  educational 
schemes.  Lepelletier  and  the  still  more  fiery  radical,  Dan- 
ton,  voiced  this  conception  in  declaring  that  the  child  be- 
longed to  the  Eepublic  before  belonging  to  his  parents,  and 
consequently  he  should  be  taken  away  from  the  home  sur- 
roundings and  educated  by,  at  the  expense  of,  and  for  the 
State.1  This  was  admittedly  nothing  less  than  the  revival 
of  the  educational  system  of  Sparta.  It  was  not  so  much 
what  these  iconoclasts  actually  effected  in  the  direction  of 
educational  reform,  as  what  they  dreamed  of  doing  that  ex- 
cites our  interest  and  our  admiration  to-day,  for  the  princi- 
ples that  have  survived  are  far  more  important  than  the 
institutions. 

The  great   projects   of    Talleyrand   and    Condorcet,    the 
scheme  of  the  Constitutional  and   the   Legislative  Assem- 
blies respectively,  compassed  the  whole  gamut 
of  educational  activity  from  the  modest  vil-  pians  contrasted 
lage  school  to  the  Institute  at  the  capital,  but  wi£  those  of  the 

,°     .  „  ,  Convention. 

the  times  were  not  yet  ripe  for  any  such  am- 
bitious organization  of  public  instruction.  With  the  advent 
of  the  Convention  the  extreme  radicals  soon  gained  the 
control,  and  these  earlier  comprehensive  plans  were  re- 
placed by  those  of  a  distinctly  smaller  calibre  whose  em- 
phasis was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  field  of  primary  education. 
Not  only  were  these  projects  more  limited  in  their  scope, 
but  they  marked  the  far  reach  from  the  liberalism  of  the 
days  of  1789  to  the  Jacobinism  of  1793,  which  latter  was 
nothing  less  than  the  despotism  of  an  irresponsible  clique 
replacing  the  tyranny  of  a  monarch.  Thus  for  a  time  we 
find  that  supposititious  notion  of  equality  pushed  to  an 
absurd  extreme.  It  was  only  in  the  last  year  of  the  Con- 
vention that  the  educational  plans  showed  evidences  of 
former  liberal  ideas,  and  higher   education  received  some 

1  Plan  de  Michel  Lepelletier,  in  Hippeau,  Instruction publique  en  France 
pendant  la  Revolution,  Discours  et  Rapports,  pp.  349,  385. 


62  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

attention.  The  founding  of  the  Polytechnic  School,  the 
School  of  Mars,  the  Conservatory  of  Arts  and  Crafts,  and 
the  Normal  School,  followed  the  next  year  by  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Bureau  of  Longitude,  the  National  Institute 
of  Music,  and  the  Central  Schools,  all  came  in  rapid  suc- 
cession within  a  period  of  less  than  a  year.  In  those  days 
no  project  appeared  too  difficult,  no  conception  too  grand.  To 
have  the  idea  was  equivalent  to  launching  the  undertaking. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  these  ephemeral  creations 
of  the  Convention  was  the   establishment  of   the   Normal 

School.     This  was  the  first  legal  recognition 
Normale      *n   France   °*   tne   distinction   between   mere 

academic  training  and  teaching  ability.  Fur- 
thermore, it  presaged  the  secondary  normal  school  of  a  few 
years  later  and  laid  the  foundation  for  a  course  of  training 
whose  utility  scores  of  men  conspicuous  in  the  educational 
world  in  America  to-day  scoff  at  most  acrimoniously. 
Holland  had  already  promulgated  the  same  ideas  some 
twenty  years  previous,  drawing  them  admittedly  from  a  series 
of  pamphlets  issued  by  one  Abbe'  Pelissier.  The  plan  as 
presented  to  the  Convention  by  Lakanal  provided  for  the 
establishment  at  Paris  of  a  great  central  normal  school 
which  should  furnish  the  teaching  force  of  the  departmental 
normal  schools  subsequently  to  be  established.1  After  a 
very  brief  existence  of  less  than  four  months  (January 
20  to  May  15,  1795),  this  school  passed  out  of  exist- 
ence, and  there  is  no  evidence  that  there  was  any  attempt 
made  to  establish  the  departmental  normal  schools  as 
originally  contemplated.  The  work  of  this  Paris  school 
only  emphasizes  the  cardinal  principle  that  prompted  its 
foundation.  The  mere  recital  of  the  names  of  the  profes- 
sors of  this  ill-starred  effort  (among  whom  were  Lagrange, 
Laplace,  Monge,  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  Daubenton,  and 
Berthollet)  is  a  sufficient  guarantee  of  the  intellectual  quali- 
fications of  the  teaching  staff,  but  from  the  point  of  view 

1  D6cret  de  la  Convention  nationale,  30  Oct.,   1794,   Becueil,  I.,  sec.  2, 
pp.  26-28. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        63 

of  a  training  school  the  undertaking  was  a  conspicuous 
failure;  in  the  first  place  because  these  scholars  failed  to 
grasp  the  purpose  for  which  the  school  was  established, 
and  in  the  second  place  because  the  work  they  gave  was 
not  adapted  to  the  intellectual  attainments  of  their  students. 
Laplace,  speaking  for  himself  and  Lagrange,  in  his  opening 
remarks  said  that  they  expected  to  present  a  "general 
sketch  of  all  the  discoveries  made  in  mathematics."  In 
accordance  with  this  aim  he  began  with  arithmetic,  and  at 
his  fourteenth  and  last  lecture  had  reached  the  discussion  of 
the  theory  of  probabilities.1  Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  who 
was  somewhat  surprised  at  being  invited  to  give  a  series  of 
lectures  before  these  students,  announced  to  them  at  the 
first  meeting  of  his  course  that  he  would  yet  require  about 
three  months  to  complete  the  elaboration  of  his  new  treat- 
ment of  ethics  from  a  scientific  point  of  view  2  and  that  he 
would  consequently  be  compelled  to  postpone  the  com- 
mencement of  his  lectures  until  later  in  the  session.  The 
end  of  the  school  came  before  his  work  was  completed. 
Berthollet  confined  himself  to  the  recent  discoveries  in 
the  field  of  chemistry.  Be  that  as  it  may,  although  this 
first  great  normal  school  was  far  from  a  success,  nevertheless 
the  experiment  was  not  in  vain,  for  Napoleon  was  keen 
enough  to  appreciate  the  advantages  of  such  a  school,  and 
the  plan  was  revived  in  the  new  university.  This  next 
school  went  far  beyond  the  experimental  stage,  and  to-day 
it  still  stands,  the  justifiable  pride  of  the  secondary  school 
system. 

Each  of  the  three  Eevolutionary  Assemblies  had  its  own 
grand   scheme   of  popular  education,   championed   respect- 
ively by  Talleyrand,  Condorcet,  and  Daunou,    TheCentral 
but  all  except  the  last  never  got  beyond  the  Schools  of  the 
paper  stage.     They  were  never  put  into  actual    Conventlon- 
execution.     The  comprehensive  system  proposed  by  Daunou 

1  Stances  des  tcoles  normalesrecueillies  par  des  sUnographes  et  revues  par  les 
professeurs,  I.,  p.  21  ;  VI.,  p.  32. 
a  Ibid.,  I.,  p.  114. 


64  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

included  the  establishment  of  the  well-known  ecoles  centrales, 
or  central  schools,  all  over  France.  This  was  a  practical 
triumph  of  the  plans  of  Talleyrand  and  Condorcet,  and  was 
a  tacit  admission  that  the  country  must  provide  for  something 
above  the  elementary  instruction  emphasized  by  Lepelletier 
and  his  fellow  members  during  the  early  days  of  the  Con- 
vention. In  the  spring  of  1795  the  Convention  had  voted 
to  establish  the  central  schools  in  accordance  with  the  report 
presented  by  Lakanal,1  but  the  plan  was  too  loosely  drawn 
to  be  carried  out.  It  provided  for  one  school  for  every 
thirty  thousand  population,  and  each  faculty  was  com- 
posed of  fourteen  chairs  representing  no  fewer  than  twenty 
different  arts  and  sciences.^  Lakanal's  bill  was  merely  a 
kind  of  encyclopaedic  enumeration  of  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion, with  no  specific  program  to  be  followed,  nor  even 
any  division  into  classes.  It  remained  for  Daunou  to  bring 
order  out  of  this  chaos,  and  the  program  of  these  central 
schools  that  formed  a  part  of  the  organic  law  of  the  fol- 
lowing October2  remained  substantially  unchanged  through- 
out the  eight  years  that  they  existed.  The  instruction 
was  divided  into  three  groups :  the  first,  for .  pupils  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  included  drawing,  natural 
history,  ancient  languages,  and,  at  the  option  of  the  legisla- 
tive body,  modern  languages;  the  second,  for  pupils  from 
fourteen  to  sixteen  years  of  age,  covered  elementary  mathe- 
matics, physics  and  chemistry ;  the  third,  for  pupils  of 
sixteen  years  of  age  and  over,  embraced  general  grammar, 
literature,  history,  and  legislation.  It  requires  but  a  glance 
to  see  the  enormous  difference  between  the  secondary 
schools  of  the  Revolution  and  the  colleges  of  the  ancient 
regime.  Truly  the  fall  of  the  classics  had  been  great. 
These  central  schools  were  thus  real  secondary  schools 
in  our  sense  of  the  word  in  America,  for  they  received 
pupils  directly  from  the  primary  schools  that  were  estab- 
lished under  the  provisions  of  the  same  law,  and  prepared 

1  Dbcret,  Feb.  25, 1795,  chap.  1,  Eeciteil,  I.,  sec.  2,  pp.  37-38. 

2  Loi,  Oct.  25,  1795,  Title  II.,  Eecueil,  I.,  sec.  2,  pp.  46-49. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        65 

their  pupils  for  the  special  schools  such  as  those  of  astron- 
omy, natural  history,  and  medicine  which  were  to  be 
established  later.  This  law  of  the  Convention  made  no 
attempt  to  enforce  the  school  attendance,  but  a  subsequent 
order  of  the  Directory  1  shows  a  curious  effort  to  encourage 
attendance  at  the  central  schools.  This  provided  that  every 
non-married  seeker  for  government  appointment  that  was 
not  in  the  army  should  present  a  certificate  showing  that  he 
had  been  enrolled  in  such  a  school,  while  in  the  case  of  a 
married  man  with  children  of  school  age,  the  proof  that 
the  latter  had  attended  the  government  schools  would  be 
sufficient  for  this  purpose.  Applicants  who  were  unable  to 
comply  with  the  above-mentioned  provision  were  required  to 
present  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  validity  of  their  claims 
for  exemption  from  these  requirements. 

At  all  events,  the  end  of  the  year  1796  saw  two  of  these 
central  schools  under  way  in  Paris  (a  third  one  was  subse- 
quently added),  and  one  in  each  of  the  provincial  depart- 
ments. In  distinction  from  the  former  practice,  they  had  no 
boarding  pupils.  There  was  also  an  annual  tuition  charge 
not  to  exceed  twenty-five  livres  (about  five  dollars), which  could 
be  remitted  in  the  case  of  one  quarter  of  the  pupils,  pro- 
vided their  financial  condition  justified  their  demand  for  this 
exemption.  These  central  schools,  although  they  have  been 
severely  scored  by  many  critics,  nevertheless  form  an  impor- 
tant link  in  the  secondary  school  system  of  France,  for  they 
bridge  over  the  gap  between  the  old  regime,  and  Napoleon's 
organization  of  new  lyc^es  and  the  establishment  of  the 
modern  secondary  school  system.  True,  their  organization 
was  incomplete,  but  nevertheless  they  expressed  in  a  tangible 
form  the  protest  of  the  Eevolutionary  ideas  against  the  clas- 
sical training  of  the  monarchy ;  a  kind  of  *  human  "  education 
as  opposed  to  the  humanistic  education  of  the  old  colleges. 
Besides,  too,  this  was  a  transitional  period  of  momentous  con- 
sequences, and  any  such  ephemeral  educational  experiment 
is  bound  to  suffer  when  compared  with  a  system  backed  by 

1  ArrtU,  Nov.  17,  1797,  Recueil,  I.,  sec.  2,  pp.  87-88. 


\ 


66  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

centuries  of  tradition.  In  spite  of  this,  in  some  instances, 
notably  at  Besancon  where  the  central  school  had  five  hun- 
dred pupils  on  its  roll  whereas  the  former  college  in  its  most 
nourishing  days  had  had  barely  three  hundred,1  the  new 
schools  more  than  held  their  own  with  the  old.  Further- 
more, the  criticisms  have  all  been  made  ex  cathedra,  for  these 
schools  lasted  too  short  a  time  to  allow  one  to  judge  of  their 
real  worth  from  the  character  of  the  students  they  sent  forth. 
M.  Picavet  in  a  painstaking  and  impartial  study  of  these 
schools  which  contains  much  hitherto  unpublished  material, 2 
brings  out  the  interesting  fact  that  the  leading  professors  of 
the  imperial  lyce'es  had  almost  all  been  teachers  in  the  cen- 
tral schools.  This  fact  alone  would  seem  to  indicate  that 
these  institutions  could  not  have  been  so  much  of  a  failure 
as  some  of  the  imperial  and  royalist  critics  would  have  one 
believe,  for  after  all  the  teacher  is  more  important  than  the 
curriculum. 

The  law   of  May   1,   1802,  completely  reorganizing  the 
scheme  of  public  instruction,  substituted  thirty   lyc^es   for 
the  central  schools  that  were  then  in  existence, 
th^aioderD    an(^  thus  kid  the   foundation  of  the  modern 
Secondary      system  of  secondary  instruction  that  we  find 
System.       ^  France  to-day.     This  same  law  defines  very 
clearly  the  exact  significance  of  the  term  "  sec- 
ondary school."       "Every  school  established  by  the   com- 
munes   or  conducted    by  private   individuals    wherein    are 
taught  French,  Latin,  the  first  principles  of  geography,  of 
history,  and  of  mathematics,  will  be  considered  as  a  second- 
ary school."      This,  then,  gives  us  the  origin  of  the  commu- 
nal college.     The  lyce'es  and  the  special  schools  supported 
from  the  State  treasury  formed  a  class  of  institutions  some- 
what higher  than  these  secondary  schools,  and  to-day  the 
lyce'es  still  retain  their  superiority  to  the  colleges  in  public, 

1  Lacroix,  Essais  sur  Venseignement  en  general,  et  sur  celui  des  maiMma- 
tiques  en  particulier,^.  129,  n. 

2  Picavet,  Les  ideologues,  essai  sur  Vhistoire  des  id4es,  et  des  theories  scienti- 
fiques,  philosophiques,  religieuses,  etc.,  en  France  depuis  1789,  pp.  37-66. 


PROGRESS  OF   THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        67 

esteem,  in  the  remuneration  and  position  of  the  instructors, 
and  in  the  character  of  their  work.  According  to  the  terms 
of  that  law,  the  lyc^es  were  essentially  devoted  to  instruc- 
tion in  Latin  and  mathematics.  While  this  new  law  was 
generally  acceptable  to  Napoleon  as  consul,  it  was  not  at  all 
satisfactory  from  the  imperial  point  of  view.  Carried  away 
with  his  zeal  for  organization  and  possessed  with  the  idea  of 
centralizing  even  the  educational  administration  of  the  nation 
in  his  own  hands,  he  established  the  University  of  1808,  and 
reorganized  the  secondary  school  system  in  accordance  whh 
this  new  plan. 

The  opening  sections  of  the  organic  decree  of  1808 
leave  no  uncertainty  in  the  mind  of  the  reader  as  to  the 
centralizing  notion  embodied  there.  "Public  Extreme 
instruction  throughout  the  empire  is  confined  Centraliza- 
exclusively  to  the  university."1  As  we  read  tlon* 
orywe  find  that  no  school  might  be  opened  without  the  sanc- 
tion of  the  grand  master,  nor  might  anybody  open  a  school 
or  even  teach  in  a  school  who  was  not  a  graduate  of  the  uni- 
versity. /  The  educational  hierarchy  was  thus  very  carefully 
built  upj  When  one  recalls  further  that  the  grand  master 
was  practically  an  absolute  monarch  in  the  educational 
world,  and  that  he  could  be  appointed  and  removed  at  will 
by  the  emperor,  the  extent  of  the  centralization  in  this  new 
plan  is  at  once  apparent.  And  these  absolute  powers  ex- 
tended from  the  appointment  of  the  general  inspectors  down 
to  appointment  of  the  scholarship  holders  in  a  lyc^e,  or 
granting  permission  to  open  a  primary  school.  /This  organiza- 
tion, which  was  practically  that  of  a  civilian  ^rmy  under  full 
military  discipline,  reproduced  almost  exactly  the  idea  put 
forth  by  Eolland  about  forty  years  before,  that  all  degrees  of 
public  instruction  should  be  subordinated  to  a  single  gov- 
ernment authority.  This  same  general  plan  still  exists  in 
France,  but  the  schools  to-day  are  considerably  removed  from 
the  stultifying  uniformity  which  prevailed  throughout  the 
major  part  of  the  nmeteentn  century. 

1  D6cretK  Mar.  17,  1808,  Title  1,  par.  1,  Becueil,  IV.,  p.  1. 


& 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


r 


L 


From  the   point   of  view  of  the  curriculum   these  new 

lyc£es  reproduced  even  more  closely  the  pre-Eevolutionary 

conditions  than   did   the  first  lyc^e  of   1802. 

Curriculum.  They  had  a  six-year  course,  subsequently 
extended  to  seven,1  with  Latin  and  French 
running  parallel  throughout  the  first  five,  and  Greek  in  the 
second,  third,  and  fourth  years.  In  the  last  year,  the  in- 
struction in  philosophy  might  be  given  optionally  in  either 
Latin  or  French.  History,  with  the  merest  modicum  of 
geography,  chronology,  and  mythology,  is  again  in  evidence. 
The  scientific  tendency,  which  had  been  very  prominent 
throughout  the  deliberations  of  the  Eevolutionary  bodies,  is 
beginning  decidedly  to  lose  caste,  for  instead  of  the  six  years 
devoted  to  mathematics  and  science  in  the  first  lyc£e  pro- 
gram of  1802,  we  now  find  that  the  scientific  subjects  oc- 
cupy only  one  whole  year  and  parts  of  three  others.  Five 
years  later,  these  same  scientific  branches  have  entirely  lost 
their  independence  and  have  had  their  identity  submerged 
in  the  traditional  classical  program. 

Evidently  the  transition  from  the  old  regime  had  been  too 
rapid.     It  requires  a  long  period  to  change  the  ideals  of  a 

Reestablish-    nation,  and  the  change  brought  about  by  the 

ment  of  the  Kevolutionary  government  had  come  all  too 
egime'  quickly.  In  the  first  exuberance  of  their 
victory  the  new  leaders  had  reacted  widely  against  the  old 
conditions,  and  through  the  political  numbness  akin  to  that 
that  follows  a  sudden  severe  shock  to  the  nervous  system,  this 
change  had  prevailed.  But  now  the  old  blood  began  cours- 
ing through  the  veins  again.  The  old  life  reasserted  itself. 
The  old  institutions  reestablished  themselves,  as  much  as 
the  changed  outward  conditions  would  allow.  Some  years 
previous  to  this  time,  upon  coming  away  from  Notre  Dame 
on  the  Easter  Sunday  when  the  Concordat  was  published, 
Napoleon  is  said  to  have  remarked  to  some  of  his  generals : 

1  With  the  addition  of  the  eighth  and  seventh  classes  preparatory  to 
"grammar"  in  1810,  the  course  was  practically  lengthened  to  eight  full  years 
before  beginning  the  work  specifically  denominated  philosophy. 


PROGRESS  OF   THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        69 

"  Is  it  not  true  that  to-day  the  old  order  seems  to  be 
revived  ? "  "  Yes,"  replied  one  of  them,  "  except  for  the  two 
millions  of  French  people  who  died  for  liberty  and  who 
cannot  be  revived."  So  we  find  a  wide-spread  clamor  for 
a  return  to  the  study  of  the  ancient  languages.  That 
dominance  of  the  sciences  had  been  merely  transitory. 
But  it  was  the  foreshadowing  of  subsequent  tendencies, 
whose  substantial  realization  has  only  recently  been  con- 
summated in  France  in  the  changes  in  the  secondary 
school  program  that  have  but  lately  been  completed.  In 
the  same  manner,  the  Eevolutionary  government  foreshad- 
owed the  separation  of  Church  and  State  that  has  just 
been  effected,  an  event  that  Napoleon  by  that  very  Con- 
cordat succeeded  in  delaying  for  almost  exactly  one  hundred 
years. 

In  restoring  the  old  order  of  things,  Napoleon  stamped  the 
impress  of  his  own  character  on  the  discipline  of  the  schools. 
It  was  essentially  military   throughout.     The 
pupils  were  divided  into  companies  of  twenty-     rjfscipiine. 
five,  and  over  each  were  placed  a  sergeant  and 
four  corporals ;  the  signal  for  all  the  exercises  was  given  by 
drum  tap ;  and  the  internes  were  forbidden  to  appear  outside 
the  walls  of  the  lyce'e  except  in  full  uniform.     As  a  matter 
of  fact,  they  were  not  allowed  to  lay  aside  any  part  of  their 
clothing,  even   during   the   recreation   period,   without  the 
permission  of  the  sub-master. 

The  subjoined  figures1  will  give  some  indication  of  the 
extent  of  the  devastation  in  the  field  of  secondary  education 
worked  by  the  Eevolution  and  the  succeeding 
years  of  uncertainty.     Under  the  Empire  these    Evolution6 
schools  seemed  in  a  fair  way  to  recover  their   on  Secondary 
former    prestige   when   suddenly   the   fall   of    At?ph^°l 
Napoleon  dealt   them  such  a  blow  that  the 
lycdes  did  not  recover  until  just  before  the  Eevolution  of 
1830,  and   the  communal   colleges   for  more   than  a  dozen 
years  later  than  that. 

1  ViliIemain,  Rapport  au  roi,  1844,  pp.  77,  84,  95. 


L 


S« 


.V 


70        nt  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


V*"  COMPARATIVE  NUMBERS  OF  SECONDARY 

-£  PUPILS  1789-1842 


1789 

1809 

1813 

1842 

Number  of  pupils  in  the  colleges   .    . 

Number  of  pupils  in  lycees  or  royal 
colleges 

Number  of  pupils  in  communal  col- 
leges     

72747 

•  9068 
18507 

14492 
29559 

18697 
26584 

Total  number  of  pupils  in  lycees  and 
colleges 

27575 

44051 

45281 

It  is  only  fair  to  add  that  if  the  number  of  pupils  in 
private  and  boarding  schools  were  included,  the  total  number 
of  those  receiving  secondary  instruction  in  1842 1  would 
have  approximately  equalled  that  in  1789. 
^Although  Louis  XVIII.  allowed  the  university  to  continue, 
the  years  of  the  Kestoration  can  hardly  be  looked  upon  as 

Retrogression    other    than    a    Period    of    retrogression.     The 

under  the      lycdes  took  the  name  of  royal  colleges,  which 

Restoration.    they  retained   until   the  Kevolution  of  1848. 

The  influence  of  the  ecclesiastical  power  became  more  and 
more  prominent.  By  an  order  of  1802  each  lycee  was  re- 
quired to  have  its  own  chaplain.  In  1809  the  priest  was 
ranked  with  the  professors  of  the  first  class,  while  in  the 
Statute  of  1821,  he  was  put  on  equal  footing,  both  as  regards 
position  and  salary,  with  the  censeur  or  sub-master.  _The 
bases  of  education  in  the  colleges  were  specifically  stated  to 
Jbev"  religion,  tne  monarchy,  the  legitimacy,  and  the  constitu- 
_tion7*"and  the  bishop  was  given  the  right  of  supervision 
over  religious  instruction  in  all  the  colleges  of  his  diocese. 
For  the   first   time,  the  official  regulations  made  a  specific 

1  Kilian,  Tableau  de  V instruction  secondaire  en  France,  p.  325,  gives  this 
latter  figure  for  private  and  boarding  schools  in  1840  as  30,482. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        71 

assignment    to    religious    instruction,   and    the    Scriptural 
reading  in  the  preparatory  classes  was  to  be  in  French,  in 
the  sixth  to  the  third  inclusive,  in  Latin,  and  in  the  higher 
classes  in  Greek.     Although  the  course  in  philosophy  was 
lengthened  to  two  years  (and  had  to  be  conducted  in  Latin), 
later  in  the  same  year,  1821,  the  completion  of  only  the  first 
year's  work  was  required  for  admission  to  the  candidacy  of 
the  baccalaureate  in  letters,  and  the  second  year  of  the  phi- 
losophy course  was  given  over  to  mathematics  and  science. 
j^Ihe  retrogression  during  the  early  years  of  the  Restoration 
period  was  followed  by  a  reaction  toward  its  close,  and  in  one 
respect,  at  least,  it  marked  a  great  step  in  ad- 
vance.    This  latter  was  the  creation  in  1828  of     ^cUon!* 
the  office  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
whose  incumbent  was  also  Grand  Master  of  the  University. 
While  educational  affairs  have  not  progressed  uninterruptedly 
since  that  date,  nevertheless  this  innovation  recognized  the 
fact  that  the  educational  interests  of  the  nation  were  worthy 
to  be  ranked  with  the  other  great  departments  of  the  public 
service.    Furthermore,  the  instruction  in  sciences  was  brought 
up  to  that  in  letters;  the  standard  of  qualifications  of  the 
teaching  body  was  raised;  modern  languages,  which  since 
1814  had  been  optional  subjects  on  a  par  with  dancing,  fenc^ 
ing,  and  music,  and  paid  for  by  the  parents  as  extras,  were 
made  a  part  of  the  regular  instruction  in  the  royal  colleges ; 
the  course  in  history  was  lengthened  to  five  years  after  the 
preparatory  classes ;  and  the  philosophy  was  once  more  taught] 
in  French. 

The  July  Monarchy,  which  came  into  power  under  Louis 
Philippe  in  1830  and  was  the  outcome  of  a  more  liberalizing 
tendency  in  the  political  world,  early  applied    The  Work  of 
itself  to  the  development  of  public  instruction,       the  July 
but  the  great  expansion  that  took  place  here     Monarchy- 
was  almost  exclusively  confined  to  the  field  of  primary  edu- 
cation.    The   elementary   school  law  of   1833  marked   M. 
Guizot's  effort  to  establish   the   system  of  higher  primary 
schools.     Throughout  the  period,  however,  there  was  a  con- 


72  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

stant  struggle  between  the  university  and  the  Catholic  party 
wherein  the  latter  sought  to  establish  the  parity  between  its 
own  ecclesiastical  schools  and  the  royal  and  communal  col- 
leges. Indeed,  the  strife  was  strongly  suggestive  of  that  be- 
tween those  same  two  antagonists  in  the  days  of  the  old 
Jesuit  college  of  Clermont-Louis-le-Grand,  and  under  the 
reaction  of  1850  the  university  was  worsted  much  as  she  had 
been  in  her  earlier  contests. 

The  ministry  of  M.  Villemain  (1840-1844)  is  noteworthy 
for  the  publication  of  the  first  report  on  secondary  instruction 

w.„  .  '  in  France.  Napoleon  had  ordered  such  a  re- 
Report  on  Sec-  port  many  years  before,  but  for  some  inexpli- 
ondary  Educa-  caDle  reason  his  directions  had  not  been  carried 
out,  and  under  the  Eestoration  there  was  prob- 
ably no  eagerness  to  bring  out  comparisons  that  could  hardly 
have  reflected  credit  upon  the  government  then  in  power. 
Under  Louis  Philippe,  in  1831,  the  task  had  been  under- 
taken for  primary  education,  and  now  some  twelve  years 
later  under  the  same  general  auspices  it  was  completed  for 
secondary  education.  The  figures  already  quoted 1  show  that 
in  point  of  attendance  the  secondary  schools  have  barely  re- 
covered the  ground  they  lost  at  the  time  of  the  Kevolution. 
Although  few  of  the  advanced  ideas  of  the  most  progressive 
leaders  of  the  Convention  are  still  to  be  found,  yet  the  cur- 
riculum is  far  ahead  of  that  under  the  old  ante-Eevolutionary 
order.  But  according  to  the  notions  ofM.  Villemain,  seo 
ondary  instruction  could  never'  have  more  than  a  limited 
extension.  "  Distinct  from  elementary  instruction,  even  on 
those  very  points  wherein  the  two  seem  to  resemble  each 
other,  and  furthermore  having  a  direction  and  an  extent  en- 
tirely different,  secondary  instruction  includes  the  study  of 
ancient  languages,  of  literature,  of  mathematical  and  physical 
sciences,  which  ought  to  prepare  for  the  learned  professions, 
for  great  intellectual  accomplishments,  and  for  the  principal 
occupations  of  society.  It  is  intended  particularly  for  those 
whom  the  sacrifices  of  their  families  or  the  liberality  of  State 

1  Cf.  supra,  p.  70. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        73 

or  community  put  in  position  to  devote  themselves  to  study 
not  only  throughout  their  childhood,  but  during  those  years 
of  youth  which  in  other  walks  of  life  are  devoted  to  remu- 
nerative labor." x  "  Fundamentally  it  is  the  ancient  sys- 
tem of  Port-Eoyal  and  of  the  University  of  Paris,  the  system 
which  for  two  centuries  has  produced  so  many  able  and  en- 
lightened men  for  the  bench  and  for  the  business  world.  .  .  . 
Besides  that  dominant  study  of  the  ancient  languages,  par- 
ticularly useful  for  exercising  and  ripening  the  mind,  the 
instruction  in  history  has  been  strengthened,  and  variously 
graded  classes  in  mathematics  have  been  maintained,  some 
preparatory,  some  advanced  and  complete.  At  the  same 
time,  the  instruction  in  modern  languages  has  assumed  a 
more  regular  form  which  reinforces  rather  than  antagonizes 
that  of  the  classics."  2  Even  at  that  time  complaints  were 
coming  in  about  the  overcrowded  program  of  the  colleges. 
In  1833  half  of  the  secular  holiday  in  each  week  was  taken 
for  regular  work.  M.  Villemain,  in  commenting  upon  this, 
said :  "  The  (school)  day  in  its  course  of  more  than  fifteen 
hours 3  is  so  filled  with  various  occupations  that  one  might 
fear  it  was  overcrowded.  But  thanks  to  that  very  variety 
and  to  that  exactness  of  discipline,  never  was  the  health  of 
the  children  better,  nor  their  work  less  fatiguing."  4 

As  has  already  been  suggested,  the^reaction  of  1  ft, 50  dealt 
some  heavy  blows  to  the  cause  of  education  in  France.  It 
not  only  opened  the  way  for  the  entrance  of     m 

**•.■;■; — f-  .  £n r—  iTT"  •    •  •  Temporary 

political  influence  into  school  administration,  Ascendancy  of 
but  the  former •  university  standards  with  refer-    Ecclesiastical 
ence'To~academic  fitness  -..for  teaching  and  the 
power  of    inspection   over  jprivate,  schools   were   seriously 
undermined.     It  was,  so   to  speak,  the  last   effort   of  the 
Church  to  mamTatojtseM  on  an  equality  with  the  State  as 
regards  educational  affaTrs~ih  a  struggle  which  has  gone  on 

1  Villemain,  Rapport  au  roi,  Mar.  3,  1843,  p.  5. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  18. 

8  This  was  essentially  the  same  that  prevailed  in  the  time  of  Villemain. 
*  Ibid.,  p.  20. 


74  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

more  or  less  consciously _ever  since  the  founding  of  the 
University  of  Paris.  This  last  triumph  of  the  Church,  how- 
ever, was  comparatively  short  lived.  Thirty-two  years  later 
saw  the  loss  of  the  power  of  control  over  public  primary 
schools,  and  the  abrogation  of  the  Concordat  and  events  of 
the  last  five  years  have  completed  the  defeat.  The  State  is 
now  absolute  and  unique  in  its  share  in  and  its  control  over 
the  educational  interests  of  the  nation. 
I  With  the  advent  of  the  Second  Eepublic  in  1848,  the  old 

i^iojal  colleges  resumed  the  name  lyc^es  (which  they  have 
The  "Bifurca-  retained  ever  since),  and  four  years  later  their 
tion  "  in  the  curricula  underwent  a  complete  reorganization. 
Lycee  Course.  There  were  three  weu-defined  divisions  of  the 
course :  an  elementary  or  preparatory  division  of  two  years, 
a  grammar  division  of  three  years,  marked  by  the  dominance 
of  the  classics,  and  like  the  first  division  required  of  all  the 
pupils ;  and  an  upper  division  where  there  was  a  "  bifurca- 
tion" in  the  course,  the  pupils  being  compelled  to  choose  at 
the  outset  between  letters  and  science,  y  As  far  as  the  general 
subjects  of  instruction  are  concerned,  there  was  apparently 
not  much  difference  between  these  courses,  but  a  careful 
study  of  the  programs1  shows  very  clearly  that  this  bifur- 
cation meant  almost  an  absolute  choice  between  these  two 
great  areas  of  human  knowledge,  for  the  scientific  branches 
in  the  letters  section  were  treated  most  superficially,  and  the 
same  was  true,  though  perhaps  to  a  less  marked  degree,  of 
the  literary  subjects  in  the  science  section.  The  latter 
pupils,  who  up  to  the  fork  in  the  course  had  pursued  Greek 
with  their  fellows  in  the  other  section,  suddenly  broke  def- 
initely with  that  language  after  having  studied  it  for  two 
and  a  half  years,  a  period  but  little  more  than  enough  to 
master  the  elements.  This  division  of  courses  led  to  invidi- 
ous comparisons  between  the  two  groups  of  pupils,  and  the 
charge  was  undoubtedly  true  that  opportunity  was  thus 
offered  for  the  unsuccessful  pupils  in  letters  to  abandon  the 
work  that  they  had  found  too  difficult  for  them,  and  thus  the 

1  Programmes  du  30  Aout,  1852,  Recueil  Fortoul,  I.,  pp.  116-211. 


J 


PROGRESS  OF   THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        75 

less  able  ones  were  precipitated  into  the  science  sectionj  A 
sudden  relaxing  of  rigid  restrictions  is  very  likely  to  cause  a 
reaction  of  this  sort.  A  little  time  is  needed  to  bring  about 
the  proper  adjustments.  The  same  result  happened  with  us 
in  the  United  States  at  the  time  of  the  rise  of  the  scientific 
schools,  and  again  with  the  opening  of  the  business  and 
manual  courses  in  our  high  schools.  Under  this  divided 
course  system,  boys  were  compelled  to  choose  their  future 
careers,  practically  irrevocably,  at  the  end  of  the  fourth  form, 
in  other  words,  when  they  were  about  fourteen^years  old.  ^ 
The  literary  course,  which  led  to  the  baccalaureate  in  letters 
(corresponding  fairly  closely  to  the  bachelor  of  arts  degree 
in  the  old  American  college  during  the  ascendancy  of  the 
classical  studies  and  before  the  elective  system  came  into 
vogue),  was  required  for  entrance  to  the  normal  school,  and 
to  the  arts  and  law  work  in  the  university,  while  the  course  | 
in  science,  which  led  to  the  baccalaureate  in  science  (corres- 
ponding to  a  general  bachelor  of  science  degree,  if  one  may 
use  such  a  term,  based  upon  mathematics,  mechanics,  physics, 
chemistry,  natural  history,  and  drawing),  fitted  for  entrance  to 
the  courses  of  the  faculty  of  science  and  the  medical  school  of 
the  university,  to  the  scientific  division  of  the  normal  school, 
and  to  the  higher  government  technical  schools.1  Indeed, 
the  previous  insufficiency  of  the  preparation  afforded  for 
this  latter  class  of  schools  was  largely  responsible  for  the  in- 
troduction of  this  bifurcated  course.  Nevertheless,  this  rad- 
ical change,  which  is  generally  looked  upon  as  a  decided  loss, 
was  a  severe  shock  to  the  spirit  of  classicism,  which  even  to- 
day is  the  dominating  force  in  French  secondary  and  higher 
education,  and  the  return  to  the  former  conditions  which 
Minister  Duruy  brought  about  in  1864  furnished  welcome 
relief  to  the  troubled  situation. 

Yet  under  the  reorganization  at  that  time,  the  old  humanis- 
tic training  of  the  lyc^es  was  becoming  less  jealous  of  its  pre-  ^/ 
rogatives,  for  it  gave  way  to  a  more  liberal  course  in  science, 
a  more  extended  course  in  history,  and  showed  clearly  a  grow- 

i  Dtcret,  April  10,  1852,  Arts.  3  and  12.     Recucil  Fortoul,  I.,  pp.  40,  43. 


76/  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

ing  emphasis  upon  modern  languages.  After  all,  the  experi- 
ment of  the  "bifurcation"  had  not  been  in  vain.  The 
Restoration  baccalaureate  in  letters  came  as  before  at  the 
of  the  Old  conclusion  of  the  philosophy  form ;  successful 
completion  of  another  year,  called  elementary 
mathematics,  gave  the  additional  degree  of  bachelor  of  sci- 
ence, and  constituted  the  natural  preparation  for  the  'military 
school  at  Saint- Cyr ;  while  still  a  further  year,  called  special 
mathematics,  was  necessary  for  entrance  to  the  Polytechnic 
School.  Under  exceptional  circumstances,  certain  modifica- 
tions could  be  obtained  in  this  course,  but  the  arrangement 
here  outlined  was  the  ordinary  method  of  procedure.  Conse- 
quently the  pupil  was  no  longer  compelled  to  choose  between 
letters  and  science  at  an  age  when  it  was  entirely  doubtful 
whether  or  not  he  could  select  his  life  career  with  any  degree 
of  certainty,  and  thenceforth  the  unfortunate  longitudinal 
cleavage  in  the  lycee  course  was  a  thing  of  the  past. 

At  the  same  time  opportunity  had  to  be  found  for  the  ex- 
pansion of  that  mechanical  and  industrial  spirit  that  dates 
from  the  second  third  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
"  Modern  "     The  leaders  of  the  Convention  had  incorporated 
Secondary      this  idea  in  the  program  of  the  Central  Schools, 
but  these  schools  had  not  survived  the  change 
of  empire.     An  attempt  had  been  made  at  the  royal  college 
of  Nancy  (1829)  and  later  at  Versailles  and  la  Eochelle  to 
inaugurate  a  somewhat  similar  kind  of  professional  training. 
Under  the  "  bifurcation"  of  1852  this  instruction  had  been 
introduced  into  nearly  all  the  lycdes  outside  Paris,  and  had 
been  adopted  by  practically  all  the  communal  colleges.     The 
reports  of  industrial  development  and  consequent  modifica- 
tions in  the  educational  systems  that  had  been  coming  from 
abroad 1  were  sufficiently  disquieting  to  indicate  that  France 

1  Cf.  Cousin,  Me'moire  sur  V instruction  secondaire  dans  le  royaurae  de  Prusse 
pendant  Vanne"  1831. 

M argue RiNet  Mothere,  De  V  enseignement  des  classes  moyennes  etdes  classes 
ouvrieres  en  Angleterre,  1864. 

Baudoin,  Rapport  snr  V6tatactuel  del' enseignement  special  etde  V  enseignement 
primaire  en  Belgique,  en  Allemagne,  et  en  Suisse,  1865. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        77 

must  recognize  that  a  new  world  was  in  the  making,  and  she 
must  put  forth  determined  and  definite  efforts  to  keep  pace 
with  the  march  of  events.  Consequently  a  new  departure 
was  made  in  scientific  teaching,  and  a  course  was  organized 
under  the  name  of  "special  secondary  instruction."  It  was' 
not  professional  education  on  the  one  hand,  neither  was  it  an 
extension  of  primary  education  as  contemplated  in  the  then 
defunct  higher  primary  schools  of  M.  Guizot,  but  its  object 
was  to  supply  the  leaders  of  the  great  industrial  army,  just  as 
tlje  higher  primary  schools  of  a  few  years  later  were  to  pro- 
vide the  under  officers,  and  the  lower  primary  schools  the  rank 
and  file  of  this  same  civilian  army./  This  new  departure  in 
secondary  education  was  intended  to  establish  that  broad 
basis  of  general  scientific  knowledge,  without  in  any  sense 
becoming  professional,  which  is  indispensable  for  the  leaders 
in  the  commercial,  industrial,  and  financial  world.  It  wasTj 
nevertheless,  a  complete  education,  "  an  education  of  another  J 
nature  than  classical  education,  but  not  of  another  order,"  \f 
and,  furthermore,  the  official  program  was  sufficiently  elas- 
tic to  enable  it  to  be  adapted  to  serve  the  particular  interests 
of  the  community  in  which  the  school  was  placed.  For  ex- 
ample, special  attention  would  be  devoted  to  geography  and 
commercial  law  in  the  great  maritime  cities,  to  metallurgy 
or  agricultural  chemistry  in  the  districts  given  over  to  mining 
or  agriculture,  to  design  in  the  lace  or  cotton  centres.  In  a 
word,  this  special  secondary  instruction  was  intended  to  sup- 
ply the  place  filled  by  the  Realschule  in  Prussia.  Although 
a  new  normal  school  was  opened  in  1866  exclusively  for  the  v 
preparation  of  teachers  for  this  form  of  secondary  instruction, 
the  latter  was  not  organized  as  in  Germany  in  a  special  cate- 
gory of  its  own.  Consequently  it  is  perhaps  true  that  it 
suffered  from  not  being  segregated  and  from  not  having  a 
teaching  force  from  top  to  bottom  ardent  partisans  to  support 
it  in  the  inevitable  struggle  against  classic  training.  Be  that 
as  it  may,  for  the  first  years  it  was  looked  upon  quite  as  an 
interloper  in  the  lyc^es  and  colleges,  and  was  unquestionably 

1  Geeard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  I.,  p.  78. 


© 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


on  a  considerably  lower  plane  than  the  classical  work  with 
which  it  was  competing.  In  1881,  however,  the  former  cer- 
tificate which  crowned  the  work  of  the  course  was  replaced 
by  a  baccalaureate  of  special  secondary  instruction,  and  ten 
years  later  the  whole  course  was  considerably  modified.  At 
that  time  even  the  name  was  changed,  and  for  the  next decade 
it  was  known  as  "  modern  secondary  instruction."*/  The  vi- 
cissitudes of  this  science  instruction  in  the  secondary  schools 
mark  the  progress  of  the  struggle  between  the  scientific 
and  the  humanistic  spirit.  /  Although  practically  coming 
into  the  social  life  with  the  ^Renaissance,  the  former  did  not 
make  itself  seriously  felt  in  the  secondary  school  until 
the  period  of  the  Kevolution.  In  this  new  program  of 
1891,  it  was  still  subordinate  to  the  classical  training, 
although  more  and  more  careers  under  the  auspices  of 
the  State  were  opening  up  before  its  graduates.  The 
latest  legislation,  in  1902,  however,  finally  established  the 
parity  between  these  two  disciplines,  at  least  as  far  as 
official  regulation  could  do  so,  and  to-day  the  course  in 
letters  and  the  course  in  science  extend  side  by  side  with 

i  the  most  liberal  opportunity  possible  of  passing  from  one 
\s   to  the  other. 

^  From  the  beginning  of  the  Third  Eepublic  to  the  entire 
reorganization  of  the  whole  scheme  of  secondary  instruction 
Tendencies  that  occurred  in  1902  and  the  peripd  immedi- 
of  Classic  ately  following,  the  reforms  of  classical  in- 
durin^the  struction  have  been  along  three  ^lines:  (1)  in 
Third  cutting  down  an  enormously  overcharged  pro- 
pu  1C*  gram ;  (2)  in  greater  emphasis  upon  the  im- 
portance of  the  physical  side  of  education ;  (3)  in  improved 
methods  of  work.  The  first  two  of  these  are  really  phases 
of  the  same  general  tendency.  The  average  number  of 
hours  of  class  work  per  week  from  each  of  the  classes  from 
the  eighth  to  the  philosophy  forms  inclusive  was  reduced 
from  nearly  twenty-six  in  the  program  of  1874  to  a  little 
less  than  twenty  in  that  of  1890.  There  was  furthermore  a 
well  defined  tendency  toward  a  sloughing  off  of  old  methods ; 


PROGRESS  OF   THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        79 

the  modern  languages  began  to  be  taught  more  particularly 
from  the  point  of  view  of  speaking,  and  the  classics  from 
the  point  of  view  of  reading. /To  that  latter  end  Latin 
versification  disappeared  entirely,  and  composition  work  in 
the  classic  languages  was  greatly  reduced/  Latin  and  Greek 
were  begun  in  the  sixth  and  at  the  middle  of  the  fifth  forms 
respectively  instead  of  in  the  eighth  and  the  sixth  respec- 
tively according  to  the  program  of  1874.  Finally  there  has 
been  a  very  definite  division  of  the  school  course  into  three 
series  or  cycles:  the  elementary  classes;  the  grammar 
classes ;  and  the  higher  classes.  This  division  was  intended 
to  serve  the  same  purpose  in  the  secondary  schools  as  the 
concentric  circle  plan  that  prevails  in  the  primary  schools, 
and  was  established  with  the  idea  of  giving  the  pupil  who  is 
compelled  to  leave  school  before  the  end  of  the  course 
certain  definite  notions  that  he  can  carry  away  with  him. 
While  the  school-leaving  problem  has  attracted  considerable 
attention  and  has~  caused  no  little  uneasiness  in  France, 
nevertheless  it  has  not  reached  the  acute  stage  there  that 
it  has  with  us,  in  the  primary  school  on  account  of  the 
more  efficient  enforcement  of  the  compulsory  school  law, 
and  the  greater  commercial  value  of  the  leaving  certificate, 
and  in  the  secondary  school  because  the  tuition  fee  and 
the  social  prestige  attached  to  this  grade  of  school  tend  to 
make  its  pupils  a  selected  class,  and  furthermore  the  bacca- 
laureate is  the  only  key  that  will  open  the  way  to  a  pro- 
fessional career  and  to  numerous  branches  of  the  government 
service.  < 

But  of  all  the  reforms  in  the  field  of  secondary  education 
that  have  been  carried  out  under  the  Third  Eepublic,  the 
most  significant  has  been  the  establishment  of      a       , 

occon  clary 

lyc£es  for  girls  under  the  law  of  December  21,      Education 
1880.     With   the   possible   exception   of    the       ofGirls- 
schools  at  Ecouen  and   Saint-Denis,  which  Napoleon  had 
founded  expressly  for  the  education  of  the  daughters  of  his 
officers,  whatever  had  been  done  up  to  this  period  had  been 
undertaken  either  through  individual  initiative,  or  else  in 


80  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  private  institutions  of  the  religious  teaching  bodies.  At 
all  events,  in  1867,  after  the  passage  of  the  new  law  with 
reference  to  the  establishment  of  primary  schools  for  girls, 
in  the  words  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction :  "  There 
yet  remains  one  important  thing  to  do:  it  is  necessary  to 
provide  the  girls  with  secondary  instruction,  which,  strictly 
speaking,  does  not  exist  in  France."1  Consequently  he 
recommended  the  creation  of  a  series  of  extension  classes  to 
be  held  in  the  city  halls  or  other  public  buildings  and  to  be 
taught  by  the  professors  in  the  boys'  lycdes.  This  girls' 
secondary  instruction  was  to  include  only  a  very  limited 
number  of  subjects  drawn  from  the  new  program  of  the 
boys'  special  secondary  instruction  (from  which  the  dead 
languages  were  excluded),  with  altogether  only  one  or  two 
lessons  per  day  extending  over  a  period  of  three  or  four 
years.  From  the  economic  point  of  view,  this  was  certainly 
a  valuable  suggestion,  since  the  government  was  able  to 
double  the  number  of  schools  at  no  additional  cost.  The 
merely  nominal  running  expenses  aside  from  the  remunera- 

/fion  of  the  teaching  staff  could  be  more  than  carried  by  the 
proposed  tuition  fee  of  fifteen  or  twenty  francs  a  month,  and 
a  substantial  amount  would  be  left  for  free  scholarships. 
But  from  the  educational  point  of  view  its  chief  virtue  lay 
in  the  fact  that  it  marked  the  beginning  of  a  radical  de- 
parture in  the  traditional  policy.  The  suggestion  of  Minister 
Duruy  was  taken  up  with  alacrity,  twenty-four  such  courses 
being  established  the  first  year.  But  the  enthusiasm  quickly 
ran  its  course,  for  in  the  following  year  the  number  of  new 
foundations  fell  to  ten.  At  all  events,  by  1879,  only  fourteen 
of  the  forty-seven  courses  that  had  been  started  were  still 
in  existence.2  The  movement  cannot  have  made  any  very 
great  stir  in  the  educational  world,  for  the  statistics  of 
secondary  education  published  in  1876  contain  no  report  at 

1  Instructions  aux  recteurs,  30  Oct.,  1867,  in  Circulaires  et  instructions  o fi- 
ddles relatives  a  I  'instruction  publique,  Ministhre  de  M.  Duruy,  p.  543. 

2  See,  Rapport  h,  la  Chambre  des  Diputis,  in  Lyc6es  et  colleges  de  jeunes 
filles,  p.  148. 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        81 

all  of  the  progress  of  the  work,  nor  even  do  they  make  any 
mention  of  the  experiment.  Indeed,  although  there  was  a 
diploma  for  successful  completion  of  the  three  years'  work,  it 
would  have  been  rather  surprising  if  success  had  come  to 
such  an  adventitious  undertaking,  without  special  organiza- 
tion, without  appropriate  class  rooms,  without  a  regular  teach- 
ing force  of  its  own,  without  legislative  sanction.  But  viewed 
in  the  light  of  subsequent  developments,  it  cannot  be  con- 
sidered as  a  vain  and  profitless  experiment,  for  it  paved  the 
way  for  the  establishment  of  a  real  system  of  secondary 
education  for  girls. 

With  the  passage  of  the  law  of  December  21,  1880,  public  u/ 
state  secondary  education  for  girls,  thanks  to  the  efforts  of 
M.  Camille  S£e,  became  a  reality  in  France.  Under  the 
terms  of  this  law,  the  secondary  course,  whether  in  a  lyce'e 
or  in  a  communal  college,  lasted  five  years,  divided  into  two 
periods  of  three  and  two  years  respectively,  and  was  open 
to  pupils  of  twelve  years  of  age  and  upwards.  The  studies 
of  the  first  period  were  all  required,  but  in  the  last  two  years 
only  twelve  or  thirteen  hours  out  of  twenty  were  prescribed. 
On  the  whole  the  work  corresponded  fairly  closely  to  the 
old  English-modern  language  course  that  formerly  existed  in 
our  American  high  schools.  Save  for  the  suppression  of  the 
single  hour  devoted  to  the  optional  study  of  Latin  in  each 
of  the  last  two  years,  the  increased  emphasis  put  upon 
manual  and  gymnastic  work  throughout  the  course,  and  a 
natural  improvement  in  methods,  the  program  as  it  came 
through  the  last  revision  in  1897  is  in  all  essential  points 
substantially  the  same  as  it  was  originally.  ''The  detailed 
discussion  will  consequently  be  reserved  for  a 

later  chapter.  v  Secondary 

Scarcely  had  these  girls'  secondary  schools       ^°™f 
been  provided  for  than  the  government  took  the 
only  logical  step  possible  and  voted  to  create  a  secondary 
normal  school  in  order  to  furnish  the  recruitment  of  the 
teaching  force  of  this  new  class  of  schools.     The  bill,  intro- 

6 


1" 


82  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

duced  in  the  lower  house  March  3,  1881,  declared  "urgent," 
reported  and  adopted  without  discussion  on  May  14th,  was 
finally  passed  by  the  Senate  and  became  a  law  on  July 
26th. 

With  the   establishment   of  the  higher  primary  normal 

school  for  young  men  in  December  of  the  following  year, 

The  Third     ^e  government   completed  a  period  of  enor- 

Kepublic  and    mous  educational  activity.     Within  less  than 

Education.      three  yearg  an(j  ft  half  each  of  the  ninety  de_ 

partments  of  the  country,  with  the  assistance  of  the  State, 
had  been  required  to  provide  adequate  normal  school  train- 
ing for  the  future  teachers  of  both  sexes  for  its  boys'  and 
girls'  elementary  schools,  the  State  had  founded  two  great 
schools  to  train  the  teachers  for  these  departmental  normal 
schools,  had  created  a  system  of  girls'  secondary  schools  and 
crowned  it  with  a  normal  school  of  its  own,  had  recreated 
the  system  of  higher  primary  education  both  in  special 
schools  of  its  own  and  in  the  extension  courses  (cours  com- 
plementaires)  attached  to  the  lower  primary  schools,  and 
finally  had  passed  those  two  great/fundamental  laws  pro- 
viding for  universal  compulsory  elementary  instruction,  and 
declaring  that  in  the  primary  schools  of  every  order,  the  in- 
struction should  be  not  only  gratuitous,  but  furthermore 
absolutely  free  from  all  ecclesiastical  control/  This  is  a 
series  of  educational  achievements  that  stands  without  a 
parallel  in  history,  at  least  within  the  same  length  of 
time,  and  it  has  enabled  France  to  rise  from  a  position  of 
mediocrity  in  the  educational  scale  to  a  place  in  the  very 
front  rank  among  the  nations  of  the  world.  During  the 
period  of  the  Third  Eepublic,  the  budget  of  the  Ministry 
of  Public  Instruction  has  increased  from  thirty-two  millions 
of  francs  in  1870,  to  a  little  more  than  two  hundred  and 
seventy-one  millions1  in  1908,  and  the  marked  decrease  in 

1  This  takes  no  account  of  the  millions  spent  hy  the  towns  and  cities  all 
over  France,  for  which  no  accurate  figures  are  available.  Yet  large  as  these 
figures  may  be  they  are  quite  overshadowed  by  the  budgets  of  the  army  and 


PROGRESS  OF  THE  NINETEENTH  CENTURY        83 

illiteracy  from  twenty-five   and  thirty-seven   per   cent  for  1 
men  and  women  respectively  in  1870  to  four  and  seven- 
tenths  per  cent  and  seven  and  two-tenths  per  cent  respec-    , 
tively  in  1898  1  gives  convincing  proof  that  this  immense 
amount  has  not  been  expended  in  vain.  ^ 

navy  departments  which  fell  a  little  short  of  eleven  hundred  millions  of  francs     J 
that  same  year.     Almanack  de  Gotha,  1909,  p.  799.  ' 

1  Annuaire  de  lajeunesse,  1907,  p.  22. 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  ADMINISTRATIVE   ORGANIZATION   OF  THE 
SECONDARY  SCHOOL  SYSTEM 

In  many  respects  the  French  secondary  school  system  of  to- 
day still  retains  some  of  the  essential  features  of  the  organ- 
ization imposed  upon  it  by  Napoleon  a  century 

Centralization.  a&°>  an(*  not  tne  *east  significant  of  these  ap- 
pears in  its  excessive  centralization.  This 
centralization,  which  has  been  at  the  same  time  one  of  its 
most  characteristic  peculiarities  and  one  of  its  most  strik- 
ing defects,  was  severely  scored  more  than  once  in  the  testi- 
mony before  the  parliamentary  investigation  of  the  Eibot 
Commission  a  few  years  ago.1  Cpiis  extreme  centralization, 
however,  is  not  unique  in  the  department  of  the  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction,  but  seems  almost  to  pervajjp  the  national 
character,  and  it  really  results  in  a  governmental  centraliza- 
tion that  is  equalled  in  few  other  nations.)  The  Napoleonic 
administration  again  is  doubtless  in  no  small  means  respon- 
sible for  this  condition  of  affairs,  but  it  seems  to  present  a 
decidedly  anomalous  situation  for  a  republic.  One  must 
remember,  however,  that  the  French  Kepublic  is  not  a  union 
of  several  independent  states,  as  is  the  case  in  the  United 
States,  in  Switzerland,  and  even  in  the  modern  German  Em- 
pire, but  it  represents  a  homogeneous  people  subdivided  into 
smaller  units  for  purposes  of  administration.  More  impor- 
tant still  is  the  survival  of  the  monarchical  ideas  and  ideals 
that  are  everywhere  traceable.  Indeed,  it  would  require  a 
fine  discernment  to  differentiate  the  republican  political  and 
social  life  from  that  of  a  constitutional  monarchy  like  Italy, 

1  Enqu&te  sur  V enseignement  secondaire,  Paris,  1897,  6  vols. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      85 

for  example.  More  than  one  Frenchman  has  said  that  if,  by 
some  political  reversal,  there  should  be  a  monarch  at  the 
head  of  the  State  instead  of  a  president,  the  external  evi- 
dences would  be  hardly  noticeable.  The  changes  in  govern- 
ment in  France  during  the  nineteenth  century  were  essentially 
political  changes  rather  than  social.  The  outward  life  of  the 
nation  still  goes  on  as  before.  So  centralization  is  not  funda- 
mentally distasteful  to  the  French  idea. 

Viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  civil  and  political  control, 
and  again  that  of  educational  direction,  France  presents  two 
distinct  systems  of  administration,  though  at  Civil  and 
several  points  these  systems  overlap.  Politi-  Political 
cally  the  whole  country  is  divided  into  ninety  Dlvlslons- 
Hfipfl.rtTnf.nta.  each  department  being  subdivided  into  arron^ 
dissj&ments,  each  arrondissement  into  cantons,  and  each 
canton  into  communes.  The  departments  correspond  roughly 
to  our  states,  the  arrondissements  to  our  congressional 
districts,  and  the  communes  to  our  towns  or  cities.  The 
canton,  which  is  merely  a  judicial  district,  the  subdivision  of 
an  arrondissement,  and  of  some  slight  bearing  in  the  system 
of  primary  education,  does  not  figure  at  all  in  the  field  of 
secondary  education,  and  need  not  concern  us  further.  The 
Minister  of  the  Interior  at  Paris  appoints  a  prefect  over  each 
department  and  a  sub-prefect  for  each  arrondissement,  while 
local  self-government  is  restricted  chiefly  to  the  election  of 
the  municipal  council  whose  members  in  turn  choose  the 
mayor  of  the  commune.  Through  the  medium  of  the  pre- 
fects and  sub-prefects  the  general  government  thus  reaches 
out  directly  to  the  far  corners  of  the  country. 

Starting  with  the   largest    political    subdivision   of  the 
n  „  nation,  the  departments,  and  grouping  them   in  what  was 

Tj#  originally  a  more  or  less  arbitrary  fashion,  we  arrive  at  the 
.academy,  the  largest  educational  unit.     At  the  present  time 

4/     there  are  seventeen  academies,  each  one  nominally  having  a 

*£*    university  of  its  own,  and  each  one  administered  by  a  rector. 

^^  For  a  brief  period  in  the  very  middle  of  the  last  century 
there  were  as  many  academies  as  departments,  each  of  these 


86  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

with  its  own  rector,  but  this  arrangement,  which  was  not  of 
long  duration,  gave  place  in  1854  to  the  present  scheme, 
most  of  the  displaced  rectors  being  retained  as  academy  in- 
spectors and  made  subordinate  to  the  rector  of  the  academy. 
These  academies  to-day  vary  in  size  from  Paris  with  nine__d£- 
partments  and  approximately  five  and  three-quarter  millions 
of  population  to  Chamb£ry  with  only  two  departments  and 
under  seventy-eight  thousand  inhabitants. 

At  first   sight  the  three  degrees  of  education  in  France 
would  seem  to  correspond  exactly  with  the  three  degrees  in 

America,  for  they  follow  a  similar  nomencla- 
ofhEeducatgione.S  ture>   PrimaiT>   secondary,   and    higher,    terms 

that  are  perfectly  familiar  to  us.  It  is  this 
very  similarity  of  terms  that  renders  the  deception  more 
subtle,  and  a  closer  examination  of  the  French  system  will 
dissipate  some  of  our  preconceived  notions.  The  secondary 
and  the  primary  systems  are  not  superimposed^  one  uponjjne 
pother,  but  rather  run  along  concurrently,  for  fho.  prjjm^ry 
system  trenches  upon  what  we  call  the  secondary  field,  and 
the  secondary  system  has  extended  its  elementary  classes 
down  so  that  it  is  paralleling  the  work  of  the  primary  sys- 
tem^ The  new  program  of  1902  attempted  to  mollify  this 
latter  situation  somewhat  in  changing  the  name  of  the  tenth 
and  ninth  forms  of  the  lyce*es  and  colleges  to  the  first 
and  second  preparatory  classes,  in  grouping  the  eighth  and 
seventh  forms  together  in  the  elementary  division  and  be- 
ginning secondary  instruction  proper  with  the  sixth  form. 
Although  there  have  been  certain  internal  modifications,  the 
change  thus  effected  has  been  more  apparent  than  real.  At 
the  same  time  an  attempt  was  made  to  modify  the  parallel- 
ism between  the  two  systems  and  to  coordinate  them  so  that 
the  primary  school  course  should  form  a  regular  preparation 
for  the  secondary  school,1  but  this  has  thus  far  failed  to  real- 
ize the  purpose  of  its  sponsors.  /As  a  matter  of  fact,  in  most 
parts  of  the  country  comparatively  few  pupils  pass  from  the 

1  JDJcret,  May  30,  1902,  Art.  I.,  Plan  d?  etudes  et  programmes  d' enseignement 
dans  les  lycees  et  colleges  de  garcons,  1907-1908,  p.  xxi. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM 


(0. 


^ 


primarj^gfibool  to  the  secondary  school  save  the  government 
scholarship  holders  who  are  selected  by  competitive  exam- 
inatioTir"  Although  the  latter  vary  in  different  sections,  in 
1906  they  amounted  to  less  than  two  per  cent  of  the  total 
secondary  school  population.1  "  The  middle'*  class  citizen 
puts  his  child  in  a  lyce*e,  not  in  order  to  make  him  a  learned 
man,  but  in  order  that  his  son  should  not  be  in  the  same 
institution  with  the  son  of  his  servant  or  his  concierge."  2 
This  may  be  a  rather  strong  statement,  but  it  contains 
a  good  bit  of  truth,  andin  the  last  analysis  the  motive  that 
sends  one  boy  to  the  primary  school  and  his  neighbor  to, 
a  secondary  school  is  fundamentally  sociological.  Just  as 
in  New  York  City,  where  certain  peculiar  economic  and 
social  conditions  have  brought  about  a  somewhat  similar  sit- 
uation, one  boy  goes  to  a  private  secondary  school  so  called, 
and  another  to  a  public  primary  school,  yet  in  the  elementary 
classes  the  courses  of  study  are  largely  the  same. 

This  brings  up  the  mooted  question  of  the  real  significance 
of  secondary  education.     Wherein  is  it  differentiated  from 
primary  education  below  and  higher  education       what  is 
above  ?     Formerly  there  was  general  agreement     Secondary 
as  to  the  connotation  of  secondary  education : 
it  unquestionably  meant  classical  education.     As  the  "  mod- 
ern side  "  subjects  fairly  broke  into  the  secondary  school,  we 
began   to  weigh  our  earlier  distinctions  and  to  find   them 
wanting.   Qn  France  the  distinction  between  secondary  and 
primary  has  always  been  drawn  along  purely  social  linesy 
Between  secondary  and  higher,  originally  there  was  rio~dif- 
ferentiation,  and  now   it  may  roughly  be  expressed  as  the 
difference  between  cultural   and  professional,  for  the  great 
majority  of  students  in  the  amiversities  to-day  are  pursuing 
purely  professional   coursesj    In  America  the   distinction 
seems  to  rest  solely  upon  a  chronological  basjs.     It  would 
appear  much  more  natural  to  express  the  difference  in  psy- 

1  Stekg,  Rapport  sur  le  budget  de  V instruction  publique  de  Vexercice,  1908,  p. 
73. 

2  Billaz,  in  Ribot,  Enquete,  II.,  p.  107. 


88  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

etiological  terms.  As  primary  education  is  the  education  of 
the  child,  so  secondary  education  is  the  education  of  the 
adolescent.  Thus  secondary  education  is  not  exclusively 
classical  education,  nor  the  so-called  "modern  education," 
and  it  is  most  ambiguous  to  define  it  as  intermediary  between 
elementary  and  higher  education.  Jt  has  a  purpose  and  a 
content  entirely  its  own,  and  the  latter  is,  or  should  be, 
drawn  from  the  subjects  tiiat  are  suited  for  the  development 
of  the  adolescent  mind.  J  It  may  be  linguistic,  it  may  be 
literary,  it  may  be  scientific,  it  may  be  social.  It  certainly 
must  be  ethical,  and  it  must  be  real. 

In  France,  as  was  suggested  above,  the  field  of  secondary 
education  is  marked  off  by  social  boundaries.  However 
The  French  contradictory  this  notion  has  been  to  the 
Secondary  ^principles  of  democracy,  the  authorities  have 
c  00 '  striven  in  vain  to  overthrow  it.  Formerly 
the  conservative  influence  was  the  hierarchy  of  the  Church, 
now  it  is  the  hierarchy  of  the  professions  and  of  function- 
aryism.  The  French  secondary  school  occupies  a  unique 
position  among  the  secondary  schools  of  the  world,  for 
it  is  really  complete  in  itself.  It  is  neither  dependent  upon 
the  primary  school  as  a  source  of  supply,  for  it  has  its  own 
elementary  classes  where  the  rudiments  are  taught,  nor 
does  it  necessarily  send  its  pupils  to  the  university,  for  it- 
provicjej^  a  Jiberal  education  within  its  own  walls,  and  trie" 
possession  of  the  baccalaureate  opens  the  _wayior  entrancA 
to  the  government  military  and  naval  academies,  the  engin-j 
eering  schools,  the  normal  school,  and  to  certain  preferred 
appointments  in  the  post  office  and  tfhe  interior  departments,' 
be  it  remembered,  however,  in  every  case  only  after  com- 
petitive examination.  As  M.  Bre*al  pointed  out  some  years 
ago,  "  While  in  England  and  in  Germany  one  is  not  consid- 
ered a  man  of  letters  unless  he  lias  passed  through  the 
universities,  for  which  the  colleges  are  the  preparation  and 
the  vestibule,  with  us  one's  studies  are  generally  deemedf 
complete  when  one  has  finished  the  last  year  of  the  ly^p  \ 
After  that  there  is  nothing  left  but  to  enter  upon  a  definite 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      89 

career."1  For  American  readers  M.  Breal  would  probably 
have  said  "to  enter  upon  the  preparation  for  a  definite 
career,"  for  every  year  thousands  enter  upon  their  profes- 
sional preparafon  for  law,  medicine,  and  pharmacy.  It  is 
still  true  thaj>  wie  chief  function  of  the  lyc£e  and  the  college 
is  to  prepa^^sJaklents  especially  for  the  great  government 
military ,pnffia!TJand  engineering  schools,  for  the  normal 
school,  4ild  for  distinctly  university  faculties  of  arts, 
sciences^  law,  medicine,  and  pharmacy.  It  is  absolutely 
impossible  to  find  out  the  proportion  of  students  that 
complete  the  secondary  school  who  do  not  carry  on  their 
studies  farther,  but  the  estimates  of  various  secondary 
teachers  vary  from  "one  third"  to  "very  few."  The 
latter  approximation  is  probably  nearer  the  truth,  and  it  is 
safe  to  assume  that  in  the  main  these  "  few  "  represent  the 
boys  that  have  failed  in  the  competitive  examinations  for 
admission  to  the  higher  government  schools,  and  are  infer- 
entially  the  weaker  students. 

The  whole  system  of  puhlip.  edafiatiiQP  ir>  EguatM  ii  puf 
unaer  the  charge  of  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  and 
Fine  Arts.  With  the  lack  of  national  control  Minister  of 
that  prevails  in  the  United  States  we  find  it  Public 
difficult  to  realize  the  extent  of  centralization  Instruction, 
that  exists  in  France,  as  well  as  the  multifarious  responsi- 
bilities that  devolve  upon  this  Minister  of  Education. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that  not  only  is  he  the  head  of  the  three 
degrees  of  education,  but  he  also  directs  the  Department  of 
Fine  Arts,  several  French  schools  abroad,  the  Bureau  of 
Longitude,  the  various  astronomical  observatories,  the 
National  Library,  and  scientific  missions  abroad.  The 
budget  of  his  department  for  1908  carried  an  appropriation 
of  300,000  francs  for  the  expenses  of  an  expedition  to  the 
South  Pole.2  The  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  is  a 
cabirj£L-officer,  and  consequently  owes  his  appointment  to 
the  President^  the  Kenuilic.     The  bureaucratic  organiza- 

1  Br£al,  Quelque  motssur  V  instruction  publique,  p.  156. 
a  Rapport  dc  la  commission  du  budget,  1908,  sec.  i,  p.  242. 


90  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

tion  of  the  portfolio,  however,  prevents  the  political  charac- 
ter of  the  office,  with  the  constant  danger  of  sudden  changes 
of  ministry,  from  reacting  harmfully  upon  the  schools. 
During  the  thirty-eight  years  of  the  Third  Eepublic,  there 
have  been  thirty-seven  ministers  in  power,  although  the  five 
changes  that  have  occurred  since  1898  have  been  rearrange- 
ments of  the  portfolios  rather  than  distinct  party  mutations. 
The  traditions  and  the  general  policy  are  thoroughl/  secured 
by  means  of  the  numerous  bureaus  that  in  reality  take  care 
of  the  greater  part  of  the  business  of  the  department.  Save 
for  a  few  of  the  higher  educational  officers  who  are  named 
by  the  President  of  the  Eepublic,  the  Minister  directly 
or  jnriirectly  holds  the  power  of  appointment  n^H  removal 
overall  bis  subordinates  in  the  educational  system,.  There 
are  nevertheless  sufficient  safeguards  so  that  no  faithful 
officer  may  be  unjustly  discriminated  against.  The  Minister 
is  thus  held  responsible  for  the  working  of  his  department, 
and  for  the  execution  of  the  his  of  the  parliament,  and  the 
decrets  of  the  President.  The  general  regulations  of  his 
office  in  elaboration  and  application  of  the  foregoing  lots 
and  decrets  are  known  as  arrUes,  ,while  his  special  commu- 
nications to  the  rectors  and  prefects  for  the  purpose  of 
clearing  up  any  uncertainty  as  to  the  interpretation  of 
the  above  or  in  dealing  with  minor  regulations  of  the 
service  are  issued  under  the  name  of  instructions. 

To  guide  him  safely  through  the  legal  difficulties  of  the 

questions  that  may  arise,  the  Minister  has  a  kind  of  personal 

cabinet  of  lawyers,  known  as  the   comite   du 

Committee  on  .      , .  m-u         -u    j  •    a  •  ~  t. 

Litigation.  contenheux.  This  body,  sixteen  in  number, 
has  purely-  ad  vis  Projections,  and  the  Min- 
ister is  under  no  obligation  to  consult  it,  or  even  to  adopt 
its  conclusions  after  he  has  consulted  it.  Composed,  how- 
ever, of  eminent  lawyers,  it  renders  valuable  aid  to  the 
Minister  who,  pressed  as  he  is  on  all  sides,  must  depend 
largely  on  the  couasel  of  his-suJiordinates. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  bureaucratic 
organization  of   the   educational   system.     There  are  in  all 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      91 

thirty  bureaus  unfler  f  "ft  control  of  fhp  MiniVnr  of  Pnhlin 
Instruction  and  of  these  seventeen  are  concerned  with 
strictly  educational  affairs,  distributed  as  fol- 

I  ill vp Aim 

lows  :  cabinet  of  the  Minister,  one  bureau ; 
[higher  education,  five  bureaus ;  secondary  education,  five 
Wreaus;  primary  education,  five  bureaus;  and  accounts, 
/one  bureaur  The  others  are  divided  among  the  departments 
•of  fine  arts,  finance,  the  archives,  and  public  buildings. 
Each  of  the  three  divisions  of  th^  po^cjitional  system_JLs 
under  t.h  g_gon  trQl^o4-flr>dir qp.tcuupn  ri  these  men  are  the  real 
executive  heads  of  thesystem.  They  are  all  conspicuous 
for  their  educational  qualificattons,  for  they  have  gradually 
made  their  way  up  the  line,  and  promotion  in  France  is  • 
slow,  but  merited.  f/*^ 

The  five  bureaus  under  the  director  of  secondary  educa- 
tion  are  occupied  respectively  with:  (1)  inspection,  curri- 
cula, programs,  and  discipline  of  secondary  Direction  of 
schools  for  boys  and  girls,  examinations  and  Secondary 
scholarships;  (2)  teaching  force  of  the  boys'  ucatiou. 
lvc^es;  (3)  bursars,  and  financial  administration  of  the 
boys'  lyc^es,  construction  of  boys'  secondary  schools;  (4) 
teaching  force  and  financial  administration  of  the  boys' 
communal  colleges;  (5)  teaching  force,  financial  adminis- 
tration, and  construction  of  girls'  secondary  schools.  These 
bureaus  were  all  reorganized  a  few  years  ago,  so  that  they 
now  represent  a  more  logical  and  systematic  division  of 
function.  When  we  remember  that  even  the  minutest  de- 
tails of  all  the  lyc^es  in  France  and  Algeria  are  regulated 
from  the  office  of  the  Minister  in  Paris,  we  begin  to  realize 
what  an  immense  amount  of  work  there  is  to  be  done  there. 

In  educational  circles,  at  least,  France  has  developed  the 
functions  of  the  advisory  council  far  ahead  of  us  in  Amer- 
ica.    The   tendency   with  us  for  many   years 
was  to  administer  educational  affairs  through       Council1 
committee  control ;  when  that  failed  we  turned 
to  one  man  control ;  and  we  are  but  now  coming  to  appre- 
ciate the  advantages  of  the  dovetailing  of  these  two  systems. 


92  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

In  France,  the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction  has  hi^sune- 
rjov  coujifiilj  and  his  consulting  committee  of  public  instruc- 
tion, while  the  rector  has  his  university  and  his  academic * 

**  councils.  At  the  present  time  the  superior  council  (conseil 
superieur  de  I  'instruction  publique)  consists  of  fifty-four 
members,  the  majority  of  whom  are  elected  by  their  peers- 
They  are  drawn  from  every  department  of  public  instruc- 
tion and  form  a  body  of  men  peculiarly  qualified  to  handle 
intelligently  the  important  questions  that  come  before  them, 
for  they  are  in  active  contact^ with  the  departments_of_work 

J        which  they  represent.    "Aside  from  the  nine  members  rep- 

jj  rpgpnt.jnrc  pnKJif*,  iaatea vt^™  and  the  four  representing  pri- 
vate institntirms  that  are  appointed  by  the  President  of  the 
Republic,  they  are  all  chosen  by  the  teaching  force  in  the 
various  departments  of  higher,  secondary,  and  primary2 
instruction   from   among  their  own  colleagues^   There   are 

*  ^  ten  representatives  of  secondary  schools ;  one  for  each  of 
^  the  eight  orders  of  agrees  and  two  for  the  communal  col- 
1-  leges.  7Such  is  the  constitution  of  this  council  that  what- 
ever educational  discussion  may  come  up,  there  is  at  least 
onejnember  that  is  vitally  interested  in  its  solution.  If, 
for  example,  the  question  of  cutting  down  the  time  for 
history  in  the  lyce'es  is  broached,  the  delegate  of  the  his- 
tory teachers  is  on  the  ground  and  can  protect  the  interests 
of  his  own  subject ;  if  there  is  any  attempt  to  alter  the  cur- 
riculum of  the  ordinary  primary  schools,  there  are  six  repre- 
sentatives at  large  to  speak  for  the  primary  school  interests. 
(It  may  be  worth  noting,  however,  that  the  representation  on 
this  council  from  top  to  bottom  is  directly  proportional  to 
the  academic  rank  of  the  work  in  question  and  inversely 
proportional  to  the  number  of  individuals  involved.  That  is 
to  say,  the  members  of  the  Institute,  which  is  a  compara- 
tively small  body,  have  five  representatives,  while  the  pri- 
mary schools,  whose  teachers  are  counted  by  the  scores  of 
thousands,  have   only   six    representatives,   and   these    are 

1  Academic  here  signifies  belonging  to  the  academy,  in  its  technical  sense. 

2  The  suffrage  in  the  primary  system  is  decidedly  limited.    Cf.  infra. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      93 

chosen  from  among  and  by  the  principals  of  the  primary 
normal  schools,  and  all  the  various  inspectors  that  are 
attached  to  the  primary  system. 

This  council  has  only  two  regular  m^p-tings  pp.r  yarn-,  the 
bulk  of  the  work  being  put  into  shape  for  the  consideration 
of  the  full  body  by  a  sub-committee  known  as  the  permanent  / 
section.     The  nine  presidential  appointees  together  with  six     *}  * 
other  members  chosen  by  the  Minister  make  up  this  perma-      u   * 
nent  section.     Among  its  duties  are:  (1)  to  study  the  pro- 
grams and  the  regulations  before  these  are  submitted  to  the 
whole  council;  (2)  to  give  advice  on  the  creation  of  faculties, 
lyce'es,  colleges,  primary  normal  schools;  on  the  foundation, 
change,  or  supervision  of  chairs ;  on  books  which  ought  to  be 
kept  out  of  the  public  schools  as  texts,  as  library  books,  or 
as  prizes ;  and  finally  on  all  questions  of  studies,  adminis- 
tration, discipline,   and   school   affairs  in  general,  that  the 
Minister  may  refer  to  it. 

The  powers  of  the  council  are  administrative,  judicial,  and 
dj^cipliaary.  The  Minister  may  consult  the  council  on  any 
matter  he  chooses,  but  upon  the  more  vital  questions  of 
programs,  methods  of  instruction,  conduct  of  examinations, 
and  administrative  and  disciplinary  regulations  that  apply 
to  the  public  schools,  he  can  make  no  valid  regulation 
without  first  submitting  the  question  to  them  for  discussion, 
and  he  is  obliged  to  'follow  their  recommendations. 0  The 
jurisdiction  of  the  council  also  covers  the  questions  of  the 
general  regulation  of  examinations  and  the  conferring  of 
•degrees;  it  decides  upon  books,  whether  texts  for  general 
reading,  or  as  prizes,  that  should  be  excluded  from  private 
schools  as  being  contrary  to  good  morals,  the  Constitution, 
and  the  law;  it  passes  upon  the  applications  of  foreigners 
to  teach  in,  to  open,  or  to  direct  a  school.  The  council  is  I 
furthermore  the  final  court  of  appeal  against  the  judgments  ) 
of  the  university,  the  academic,  and  the  departmental  coun-  ( 
cils  in  matters  of  contention  or  discipline.     The  acts  of  the    I 

1  Loi,  Feb.  27,  1880,  Gri^ard,  La  legislation  de  V instruction  primaire  en 
France,  V.,  p.  129. 


94  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

council  are  issued  in  the  name  of  the  Minister,  but  with  the 
legend  corresponding  to  our  "  with  the  advice  and  consent  of 
the  council." 

The  consulting  committee  (comite  consultatif)  is  a  body 

whose  functions,  like  those  of  the  committee  on  litigation, 

are  purely  advisory.     In  reality  it  consists  of 

Committee.  tnree  seP&rate  committees  representing  each  of 
the  three  degrees"  of  education.  The  secondary 
section  is  made  up  of  the  general  inspectors  of  secondary 
schools,  the  general  inspector  of  modern  languages,  the  vice- 
rector  of  the  Academy  of  Paris,  the  director.,  of  tho  highe 
normal  school,  and  the  director  of  spr-rmrkry  p-rh^flfrin 
This  section  is  not  kept  so  busy  as  the  primary  section,  for 
the  former's  functions  are  practically  confined  to  advising 
the  Minister  on  changes,  promotions,  and  other  questions 
affecting  the  teaching  force  of  the  secondary  schools,  but 
when  one  remembers  that  this  body  in  the  boys'  lyc^es 
alone  is  considerably  more  than  five  thousand  strong,  even 
this  is  no  small  task. 

Surrounded  as  he  is  by  advisory  boards,  the  French  Min- 
ister of  Public  Instruction  would  seem  to  have  little  oppor- 
tunity for  the  exercise  of  his  own  initiative. 

Wmnisterhe  Tnere  is  more  or  less  truta  in  tnis  criticism, 
but  it  requires  a  remarkable  man  to  do  more, 
and  since  the  days  of  Victor  Duruy  and  Jules  Simon  there 
have  been  few  such.  The  Minister  is  essmtiaJlxJLpolitician 
inthe  better  -son  on  of  thr  worrl  He  is  chosen  not  for  any 
peculiar  fitness  for,  nor  for  any  particular  interest  in  educa- 
tional affairs,  but  primarily  for  the  strength  he  will  brin^  fro 
the   cabinet.     When  he   has  done  that  for  which   he  was 

Chosen,  Wnen  he   has  Hpfprul^JjiP.   gpvPrmnPnt.  o^    frhpjjnnr 

of. the  senate  or  the  chamber,  when  he  hflf?  fought  fpr  his, 
budget  in  the  dplibmvtjojis  of  foft  ^abHW  and  later  before 
the  parliament,  when  he  has  pr^sjdjad^iaBlL-the_jaimp.rous 
bodies  of  which  he  is  president,  when  he  has  jnade  lh£ 
score^of^2e^ches  at  politicaLand  other__gatherings  that  are 
demanded  of  him,  and  when  he  has  performed  the  thousand 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      95 

and  one  duties  that  devolve  upon  him,  he  may  be  excused  if 
he  follows  the  advice  of  his  counsellors  and  mechanically 
approves  the  papers  that  are  put  before  him  for  his  signature. 
It  is  one  of  the  weaknesses  of  the  French  administrative  sys- 
tem  that  too  much  of  the  time  of  the  higher  off) piaiq  ™  ^Vp,p 
ujTwith  petty  details  that  might  just  as  well  be  performed 
by  trustworthy  and  qualified  subordinates. 

By  means  of  the  general  inspp^orsj  four  for  science,  sjg^fin 
for  letters,  three  for  modern  languages,  and  two  for  accounts, 
the  Minister  is  able  to  keep  in  reasonably  close 
touch  with  the  progress  of  secondary  educa-     T  General 

,  r\  i-      Inspectors. 

tion  throughout  the  country}  On  account  of 
the  multitudinous  routine  duties  that  he  has  to  perform,  this 
is  unfortunately  done  in  a  more  or  less  perfunctory  fashion. 
These  general  inspectors  are  men  of  a  high  order  of  intelli- 
gence and  ability,  but  under  the  present  praetine  they  are 
left  to  work  somewhat  alone.  Under  Minister  Duruy  there 
was  a  very  definite  attempt  to  unify  the  work  of  these  in- 
spectors. 1  He  called  them  together  every  fall  before  they 
left  on  their  tours  of  inspection  and  gave  them  specific  direc- 
tions for  the  work  of  that  particular  year.  Since  his  time, 
however,  the  custom  has  been  more  honored  in  the  breach 
than  in  the  observance.  (It  is  rather  unfortunate  that  this  is 
the  case,  for  with, only  fourteen  inspectors,  and  about   four 

hundred   ^fl    fifty    <"n}inn1n   hn   ho   msto&j    "fr   1f>n"'-   '"">"    "-■"** 

year,  jio  one  institution  can  receive  rrmp,h  attention-  The 
frequent  changes  of  district,  it  being  the  policy  not  to  have 
an  inspector  visit  the  same  schools  more  than  two  years 
in  succession  at  the  most,  render  the  need  of  careful  direc- 
tion all  the  more  acute,  for  the  inspector  is  thus  unable 
to  carry  out  any  systematic  policy  for  improving  the  effect- 
iveness of  the  teaching  corps.  Nevertheless,  it  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  teachers  with  whom  these  inspectors  come 
in  contact  are  on  the  whole  an  unusually  efficient  set  of 
individuals. 

1Lavisse,    Testimony  before  the  Parliamentary   Commission,    in  Ribot, 
Enqitfte,  I.,  p.  35. 


96  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Leaving  the  central  authorities  at  Paris  we  come  to  the 
rectors,  one  for  each  of  the  seventeen  academies.  The  rector 
necessarily  holds  the  doctor's  degree,  and  he  is 
appointed  by  the  President  of  the  Kepublic 
on  recommendation  of  the  Minister.  The  latter  is  the  titu- 
lary rector  of  the  Academy  of  Paris,  the  actual  duties  being 
performed  by  an  official  known  as  the  vice-rector,  although 
the  importance  and  the  responsibilities  of  this  latter  are  far 
greater  than  those  of  the  heads  of  the  other  academies  who 
bear  the  title  of  rector,  ^he  rector  is  the  chief  officer  of. 
all  th  ^.educational  institutions  of  his  academy,  responsible 
for  thftpropftr  functioning  of  the  most  remote  primarvschool 
as _well  as  for  directing  the  w^rV  ^f  the  university  ^Qf-  is 
ait.imWi  at  fJTft_apprlpmy  qpgg  frn  the  main  the  faculties 
engross  the  major  part  of  his  personal  attention,  the  second- 
ary schools  being  turned  over  to  the  academy  inspectors,  and 
the  elementary  schools  to  the  primary  inspectors  who  are 
under  the  immediate  direction  of  the  academy  inspectors.  By 
means  of  monthly  reports  to  the  Minister,  the  rector  keeps 
tb_e  latterjuclose  touch  with  the  local  educational  situation, 
and  in  case  of  difficulty  he  asks  for  specific  instructions.  \  He 
is  the  medium  of  communication  betwpp™  t.h^MTriT^pT^ri 
tjift  pnblio.  sp.hpols  All  the  ministerial  circulars  are  ac 
dressed  directly  to  the  rectors  and  are  transmitted  by  them 
through  the  academy  inspectors  to  the  proper  lower  authori- 
ties. ^Even  the  humblest  servant  of  the  educational  system 
has  the  right  to  address  a  communication  to  the  MinisterJ 
but  in  every  case  it  must  follow  the  line  of  the  educational 
hierarchy,  and  the  response  will  retrace  the  same  devious 
path.  Every  year  the  financial  reports  with  the  proposed 
budgets  for  the  ensuing  year  for  the  various  public  institu- 
tions of  superior  or  secondary  instruction  are  sent  to  the 
rector  and  he  transmits  them  with  his  comments  to  the  Min- 
ister. XJie  rector  is  president  ex  officio  of  the  administrative 
board  of  each  lyc^e  and  college  in  his  academy,  and  he  has 
the  entire  power  of  appointment  and  removal  over  the  pro- 
bationary tutors  of  these  schools.     He  is  required  to  visit, 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      97 

either  at  first  hand  or  else  through  the  medium  of  the  acad- 
emy inspector,  the  private  schools  of  his  academy  once  a 
year,  but  this  inspection  is  limited  to  the  fields  of  hygiene 
and  morals.  The  diversity  of  the  work,  covering  the  whole 
gamut  of  educational  activity  from  university  president  to 
city  school  superintendent,  is  thus  seen  to  make  large  de- 
mands upon  the  rectors,  but  they  are  all  picked  men,  chosen 
alike  for  intellectual  attainments  and  executive  ability,  and 
in  the  main  they  acquit  themselves  well  of  their  tasks.  The 
rector  is  able  profoundly  to  influence  the  effectiveness  of  the 
whole  school  system,  iff.  he  is  a  progressive  man  that  is  will- 
ing to  accept  new  ideas,  or  better  still  if  he  is  fecund  enough 
to  originate  them  himself,  the  educational  activities  of  the 
academy  expand  beyond  the  ordinary  old-time  limits  of 
schoolroom  influence^  As  instances  of  this  progressive 
spirit,  one  might  cite  the  summer  course  that  has  been  given 
for  the  last  few  years  in  Paris  for  gymnastic  teachers, 
and  the  lectures  on  puericulture  and  infant  hygiene  that  were 
inaugurated  last  year  (1908)  in  the  Academy  of  Lille.  In 
this  latter  academy,  the  schools  will  average  up  well  with 
those  of  Paris,  if,  indeed,  they  do  not  surpass  them  in  some 
points. 

Eeference  has  already  been  made  to  the  fact  that  each 
of   the   higher   administrative    officers   of  the   school   sys- 
tem has  l*i«  advisory  councils^    The  rector  has 
two,  the    university    council   and    the   acad-      4fa  ®™fc 
,emic   council.     The  attributions  of  the  former 
are  restricted   to  superior  education;  hence  they  need  not 
concern  us   further.     The    academic  cniinp.jl.on   the   other 
hand,   although    formerly   possessing   jurisdiction  over  the 
three    degrees    of    education,    is    now    almost   exclusively 
occupied  with_secondary  education.     In  spite  of  its  change 
of  function,  the  character  of  the  membership  has  remained 
substantially  unmodified  for  nearly  thirty  years.     The  mem- 
bers are  of  three  sorts,  ex  officio,  elective.,,  and  appointive.    The 
first  of  these  include  the  rector,  the  academy  inspectors,  the 
deans  ofJ,hp.  faculties,  and  the  ^^iurs  "f  fhp  lr'gV*  ffph^h 

7 


98  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

or  the  preparatory  schools  for  superior  instruction  ; *  the  sec- 
ond, a  professor  chosen  from  among  and  by  the  regular  teach- 
ing force  of  each  of  the  above  faculties  or  schools,  two 
professors  of  letters  and  two  of  science  representing  the  ly- 
ce*e,  and  one  of  letters  and  one  of  science  representing  the 
colleges,  chosen  under  like  conditions;  the  third,  a  head 
master  of  a  lyce*e,  a  principal  of  a  college,  and  two  members 
selected  from  the  general  councils  of  the  departments,  and 
two  from  the  municipal  councils  that  contribute  to  the  ex- 
penses of  superior  or  secondary  education, — all  these  six  mem- 
bers receiving  their  appointments  from  the  Minister.  There 
are  two  interesting  features  about  the  composition  of  this 
council  as  contrasted  with  that  of  the  superior  council :  first, 
that  it  contains  no  representative  of  primary  instruction,  and 
second,  that  it  reckons  among  its  membership  four  represen- 
tatixesj^rn^poljtkal  life.  The  method  of  ministerial  ap- 
pointment, however,  precludes  the  likelihood  of  these  latter 
members  being  mere  political  workers,  and  it  emphasizes 
again  jJiAjrvfliieTirg  nf  the  eeotcalizfld  ^>>»racter  of  the  educa- 
tionaLsystem,  suggesting  that  in  many  respects  France  is  yet 
far  from  being  a  pure  representative  government.  Eepresen- 
tatives  of  the  people  are  chosen,  to  be  sure,  but  they  are  often 
as  in  this  case  "  selected  "  representatives. 

The  powers  anactuties  of  the  academic  council  with  refer- 
ence to  secondary  education  within  the  academy  are  very 
similar  to  those  of  the  superior  council  for  all  of  France. 
-'They  are  administrative,  judiaial,  and  disciplinary.  On  the 
administrative  side,  they  deal  with  regulations  relative  to 
lygees  and  communal  colleges,  with  the  budgets  and  the 
financial  reports  from  these  institutions,  with  all  administra- 
tive and  disciplinary  questions  that  the  Minister  chooses  to 
submit  to  it,  and  finally  it  reports  annually  on  the  public 
secondary  schools,  and  the  advisable  changes  to  be  instituted 

1  These  two  latter  classes  of  schools  embrace  the  superior  schools  of  phar- 
macy, and  of  medicine  and  pharmacy,  the  preparatory  schools  for  medicine  and 
pharmacy,  and  the  preparatory  schools  for  higher  instruction  in  the  faculties 
of  arts  and  science. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM      99 

therein.  In  judicial  and  disciplinary  matters,  it  pronounces 
t.hp.  suspension  of  secondary  teachers  for  more  than  a  year 
with  partial  or  total  loss  of  salary,  it  revokes  temporarily 
or  permanently  their  right  to  teach,  and  it  has  power  to  au- 
thorize the  opening  of  private  secondary  schools.  The 
superior  council  is  the  final  court  of  appeal  in  these  ques- 
tions. The  council  has  two  regular  meetings  per  year,  one 
just  before  the  summer  vacation,  and  the  other  just  after  the 
opening  of  the  school  year.  At  the  first  the  reports  of  the 
previous  year  are  examined,  and  at  the  second  the  budget 
for  the  next  is  considered.  The  precautions  taken  to  shut 
out  annoying  discussions  are  interesting,  and  are  rather 
typical  of  the  educational  procedure  in  France.  At  the 
opening  of  each  session  the  rector  distributes  a  schedule  of 
the  business  to  be  taken  up,  and  if  a  member  wishes  to  sub- 
mit a  proposition  for  discussion  he  must  send  it  in  writing 
to  the  rector  before  the  meeting.  The  latter  refers  it  to  the 
proper  committee,  and  this  committee  reports  to  the  rector 
whether  the  matter  should  be  taken  up  immediately,  should 
be  postponed  until  a  later  session,  or  should  be  considered  at 
all.  Inasmuch  as  the  rector  is  an  ex  officio  member  of  each 
committee,  he  is  thus  a  powerful  factor  in  "jjuidjng"  the 
action  of  the  council,  and  he  has  ample  opportunity  to  kill  a 
bothersome  question  in  committeej 

Although  by  force  of  circumstances,  the  academy  inspector 
is  compelled  to  devote  the  greater  part  of  his  time  to  the 
primary  schools,  yeLin  the  field  of  secondary 
exbiGatioji  he  is  the  personal  representative,!)!     Academy 
the  rector.     There  are  ninety-eight   academy 
inspectors,  at  least  one  for  each  department  except  Haut 
Ehin,  which  so  far  as  secondary  inspection  is  concerned  is 
joined  to  Doubs.     In  the  departments  of  the  Nord  and  the 
Bouches-du-Rhone  where    the    population   is   considerably 
congested  by  reason  of  the  cities  of  Lille  and  Marseille, 
there  is  an  additional  inspector  who  devotes  all  his  time  to 
the__primary  schools,  and  has  practically  the  powers  and 


1 


100  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

duties  of  our  city  superintendent  of  schools.  The  corre- 
sponding inspector  at  Paris  bears  the  title  of  "director  of 
primary  instruction  for  the  department  of  the  Seine,"  but  his 
functions  are  so  specialized  that  he  can  hardly  be  considered 
as  an  academy  inspector.  In  this  same  department  there 
are  seven  other  insnectors  who  are  undp.r  ftfrft  ftyfilnsiyft 
authority  of  the  rector,  and  two  of  this  number  are  wholly 
"occupied  with  public  secondary  schools.  From  the  academy 
inspector  down,  the  appointment  of  the  personnel  of  sec- 
ondary education  rp.sfrs  with  t.hq  Miniate^  but  these  positions 
are  so  fortified  by  examinations  and  service  qualifications, 
that  there  is  small  chance  of  incompetents  receiving  the 
appointments,  even  if  there  were  any  desire  to  bestow  them 
upon  favorites.  Theoretically  the  academy  inspectors  may 
be  chosen  from  the  executive  officers  or  the  upper  grade 
teachers  in  the  secondary  schools,  or  from  the  primary  in- 
spectors, in  either  case  with  the  additional  requirement  of 
the  master's  degree  or  ten  years  of  educational  service,  but 
in  practice  the  choice  is  made  fjom  the  Ty^e,  fp^/A^v*  who 
are  agrees.  Eecent  legislation x  has  attempted  still  further 
to  assure  the  competence  of  the  academy  inspectors,  for  now 
nobody  may  receive  a  permanent  appointment  unless  he  has 
served  for  a  probationary  period  of  not  less  than  two  years. 
The  effectiveness  of  this  legislation  will  become  apparent 
when  the  Minister  refuses  to  make  some  of  these  provisional 
appointments  permanent.  There  are  those  who  doubt  seri- 
ously whether  this  will  be  done.  Experience  alone  can 
furnish  the  answer.  As  was  stated  above,  in  the  depart- 
ment of  secondary  education  the  academy  inspector  is  the 
right-hand  man  of  the  rector,  inspecting  for  him,  presiding 
for  him  at  the  meetings  of  the  administrative  boards  of  the 
lycees  and  colleges,  sending  him  annual  reports  on  the  ad- 
ministrative officers  and  the  teaching  force  of  these  schools, 
especially  keeping  him  informed  on  the  relations  between 

1  D6cret,  July  10,  1906,  Wissemans,  Code  de  Venseignement  secondaire,  p. 
235. 


ADMINISTRATIVE  ORGANIZATION  OF  SYSTEM     101 

the  municipalities  and  the  schools,  and  nrtrnp  m  n  tnuin 
mitting  agent  and  general  intermefh' Pry  faflfamn  ^Vip  raotnr 
and  the  subordinate^officgrs  of  the  public  school  system  in 
airrjfiftctaT  communications;)   Thet_  ^p.nr|pTny  inipaetot  Eerily 

OCCUpieS  One  of   thft  most   important    pQfljtiolMJ    IB    fno    nrlnnn- 

tional  field.  He  reflects  the  policy  of  the  rector  and  so  of 
the  central  authority  on  the  one  hand,  and  yet  in  the  exer- 
cise of  his  inspectorate  duties  he  comes  into  personal  contact 
with  the  rvik  niirl  "file  ofvffifl  teaahip^bod^  au^  ^s  likewise 
in_£osition_to  feel  thfl  popular  pil1ga  It  must  be  recog- 
nized that  by  spirit  and  training  he  is  far  more  competent  to 
deal  with  and  improve  the  work  of  the  secondary  schools 
than  to  act  as  director  of  the  primary  schools,  and  it  would 
seem  as  though  the  prevailing  practice  of  choosing  these  in- 
spectors from  the  teaching  force  of  the  lyc^es  would  not  be 
for  the  best  interests  of  the  elementary  schools. 

Such  is  the  administrative  organization  of  the  French 
secondary  school  system,  essentially  bureaucratic,  and 
excessively  centralized.  Inasmuch  as  the  ,„-  t>  v ~ 
Paris  schools  are  taken  as  the  standard,  this  "  French 
centralization  has  been  of  immense  assistance  0rgamzation. 
to  the  provincial  schools,  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  the 
extreme  variation  in  the  character  of  these  French  schools 
is  far  less  than  it  is  in  the  United  States.  To  be  sure  there 
is  more  homogeneity  among  the  French  people  than  there  is 
with  us,  and  the  degree  of  centralization  that  prevails  there 
would  be  absolutely  impossible  on  this  side  of  the  ocean, 
Nevertheless  it  is  perfectly  patent  that  a  w\&p.  amount  of 
Jcentrahzajion,  if  it  only  established  a  uniform  standard  of 
|  teaching  Qualifications,  would  go  far  toward  raising  t.hp. 
/  general  lfiy^l  of  our  secondary  institutions.  In  France 
there  is  one  standard  for  the  same  grade  of  teacher  all  over 
the  country,  the  qualifications  for  the  inspectors  are  every- 
where the  same,  and  these  two  things  are  significant  forces 
in  bringing  about  a  uniform  excellence  of  schools.  It  must 
be  admitted,  however,  that  this  centralization  has  been 
carried  to  an  extreme.     Too  little  is  left  to  the  discretion  of 


102  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  head  master  and  principals,  for  even  the  slightest  details 
are  regulated  from  Paris.  The  ideal  would  seem  to  lie 
somewhere  between  the  excessive  centralization  of  the 
French  and  the  extreme  decentralization  of  the  American 
school  system. 


CHAPTEE  VI 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  AND  THE  TEACHING  FORCE 
OF  THE  SCHOOLS. 

Shortly  after  the  Bevolution,  the  French  national  gov- 
ernmenf'assumed  the  responsibility  not  only  of  directing, 
but  also  of  supporting  institutions  of  secondary 
learning.  It  naturally  established  these  _in  schools. 
the  larger  centres  of  population.  The  more 
progressive  of  the  smaller  communities  that  were  not  able 
to  secure  a  government  school  were  encouraged  to  found 
similar  but  less  pretentious  schools  at  their  own  expense. 
'The  public  secondary  schools  thus  fall  into  two  general 
k-Jcategories,  the  lyci^g  and  the  colleges.  The  former  are 
state  schools  pure  and  simple,  being  established,  directed, 
inspected,  and  financed  by  the  central  government  or  its 
accredited  representatives.  ^The  establishments  of  the 
same  nature,  founded  and  supported  by  the  communes, 
under  the  surveillance  and  direction  of  the  State "  ^-are 
called  colleges.  In  this  latter  case,  practically  all  the 
expense  falls  upon  the  community,  save  for  the  assistance 
that  may  be  given  by  the  department,  and  the  subsidies 
granted  by  the  central  government.  The  national  budget  of 
1908  carried  an  aggregate  appropriation  of  upwards  of  seven 
millions  of  francs  for  that  purpose.2  In  1907,  there  were 
one  hundred  and  ten  boys'  and  forty-two  girls'  lyce*es,  and 
two  hundred  and  thirty -two  boys'  and  fifty-three  girls'  col- 
leges.3   Every  city  that  wants  a  lyc^e  must  provide  the  site, 

1  Decret,  Feb.  25,  1860,  A^t.  1,  Recueil  des  Regjements  relatifs  &  Vmscigne- 
ment  secondaire,  p.  27.  N 

2  Budget  general  de  Vexercice,  1908.     lre  section,  p.  299  et  seq. 
8  Annuaire  de  lajeunesse,  1907. 


104  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  building  and  the  equipment,  and  assure  the  continuance 
of  the  funds  necessary  to  their  support.  The  State,  however, 
looks  out  for  the  other  running  expenses.  In  order  to 
establish  a  college,  the  community  must  do  all  this,  and 
in  addition  must  guarantee  the  salaries  of  the  principal  and 
the  teaching  force  for  at  least  ten  years.  In  consideration  of 
this  agreement  the  State  will  often  advance  the  money  for 
construction  purposes.  Although  these  two  classes  of 
schools  are  nominally  of  equal  rank, /in  practice  the  lyc£e 
is  distinctly  of  a  superior  typj.  But  there  are  exceptions 
to  every  rule  and  much  depends  upon  the  individual- 
institution.  For  example,  the  two  municipal  colleges 
maintained  by  the  city  of  Paris  are  probably  far  ahead  of 
most  of  the  provincial  lyce*es,  and  in  some  respects  they 
surpass  even  the  lyc^es  of  the  capital.  In  regard  to  the 
course  of  study  and  the  method  of  the  appointment  of 
I  teachers,  the  colleges  are  subject  to  exactly  the  same 
\  restrictions  as  are  the  lyc^es. 

Each  institution  has  its  own  board  of  government x  with 
the  rector,  the  academy  inspector,  the  prefect  or  the   sub- 
prefect,  the  mayor  and  the  head  of  the  school 
Government.    as  ex  °ffic^°  members,  and  seven2  other  mem- 
bers, one  of  whom  must  be  a  professor  in  the 
lyc^e,  appointed  by  the  Minister  for  a  term  of  four  yearsj 
(In  the  case   of  a^  college,  these   appointive   members   are 
four  in  number.)  (The  rector  is  the  president  ex  officio  of 
every  board  of  government  whether  in  a  lyc£e  or  a  college 
of  his  academy,  but  the  academy  inspector  ordinarily  has  to 
take  his  place^    The  powers  and  duties  of  these  boards  are 
confined   exclusively  to   the   externa  of  the  school  affairs, 
A  questions  of  curriculum,  interior  discipline,  and  the  person- 
^j/nel  being   specifically   excluded    from   their   deliberations. 
/  They  inspect  and  direct  the  matoiaX-Mxnioistration  of  the 

1  Decret,  Jan.  20,  1886,  Arts.  1-13,  Recueil  cit.,  pp.  29-35. 

2  The  addition  of  a  teacher  in  the  school  as  a  seventh  member  of  the  gov- 
erning board  was  made  in  November,  1908.  See  decret,  "Nov.  25,  1908,  Bull. 
adm.,  1908,  II.,  p.  928. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         105 

J}  schools,  satisfy  themselves  by  the  personal  visitation  of 
their  own  delegates  once  a  month  that  the  hygienic  condi- 
tion and  the  nourishment  furnished  the  pupils  are  up  to  the 

L  (standard,  and  have  general  oversight  of  the  installation  and 
equipment  of  the  buildings.  They  audit  the  accounts  of  the 
bursar,  examine  the  budget  proposecT  by  the  head  of  the 
school,  and  pass  upon  its  provisions  before  transmitting  it 
to  the  rector.  The  extreme  centralization  of  the  school 
system  is  again  forcibly  illustrated  by  the  fact  that  the 
deliberations  of  the  boards  of  administration  of  the  com- 
munal colleges  are  effective  only  after  they  have  been  ap- 
proved by  the  Minister  on  the  recommendation  of  the  rector. 
To  Americans  this  would  seem  an  unwarranted  interference 
on  the  part  of  the  central  government,  but  it  is  mainly  a 
precautionary  measure,  and  serves  to  safeguard  the  standard 
and  the  efficiency  of  the  communal  colleges. 

(Jji  each  lyc£e  there  are  three  genera]  administrative  offi- 
cers, the  provisfur,  or  heajLmaster,  who  is  responsible  for  the 
projDerfunctioning  of  the  school  in  all  its  de- 

r  ~*^__~~         — ©  t  •    j      £       The  Head  •    ' 

partmen^sj;  the  censeur,  or  censor,  a  kind  ot  Master. 
sub-master  who  is  in  charge  of  the  discipline  of 
the  pupils  both  in  and  out  of  the  classrooms ;  and  the  econome, 
or  bursar,  a  kind  of  combination  chief  steward,  treasurer,  and 
general  financial  agent  of  the  institution^  Since  the  reform 
legislation  of  1902,  all  the  new  head  masters  have  been 
agreges, 1  save  for  a  few  promoted  from  among  the  censors, 
who,  having  reached  their  positions  while  a  lower  standard 
of  academic  qualifications  prevailed,  were  assumed  to  have 
acquired  a  sort  of  vested  right  to  advancement  without 
being  held  to  conform  to  the  additional  requirements. 
Unfortunately  the  head  master  is  merely  an  administrative 
officer  with  little  real  power  of  his  own.  Most  of  his  time 
is  taken  up  with  an  enormous  number  of  details,  with  fur- 
nishing information  to  his  superiors,  with  examining  the 
reports  from  all  the  pupils  in  the  school  which  the  censor 

1  Decret,  May  31,  1902,  Art.  2,  Wissemans,  Code  dc  Venseignemcnt  sccon- 
daire,  p.  164. 


106  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

submits  to  him  every  morning,  and  with  receiving  visits 
from  the  parents.  One  of  the  parliamentary  critics  in  1899 
declared  that  the  head  master  was  "  a  chief  that  had  neither 
stability  of  tenure  in  any  given  lyc£e,  nor  powers,  nor  ini- 
tiative ;  that  he  had  only  the  semblance  of  authority ;  that 
whereas  he  ought  to  be  everything  in  the  lyce'e,  he  was  al- 
most nothing." 1  M.  Eibot,  the  chairman  of  the  commission, 
dubbed  him  an  official  who  "  passed  all  his  time  like  a  Min- 
ister, in  granting  audiences." 2  The  head  master  of  one  of 
the  big  Paris  lyc^es  thus  characterized  some  of  his  own 
difficulties:  "I  see  my  professors  and  tutors  as  often  as  I 
can,  but  if  I  should  devote  one  minute  a  day  to  each  one, 
it  would  take  me  three  consecutive  hours.  ...  I  receive  the 
I  families,  for  it  is  one  of  the  exigencies  of  the  lyc£e.  There 
are  about  thirty  thousand  visits  a  year.  I  receive  from  half 
past  eight  in  the  morning  until  noon,  and  from  two  until 
six."  3  Small  wonder  is  it  then  that  the  head  master  when 
once  he  is  promoted  from  the  professorate  practically  cuts 
himself  off  from  direct  contact  with  the  real  educational 
work  of  his  school.  He  is  relieved  from  all  class  teaching, 
and,  by  tradition  and  force  of  circumstances,  he  is  essen- 
tially an  administrative  director  rather  than  an  educational 
leader.  For  this  very  reason  some  of  the  best  of  the  pro- 
fessors refuse  promotion  to  the  head  mastership,  for  the 
advancement  seems  to  them  more  apparent  than  real.  As 
a  matter  of  fact,  save  for  the  occasions  when  he  goes  to  the 
various  class  rooms  to  read  the  standing  of  the  pupils  or 
to  announce  the  quarterly  marks,  the  head  master's  visits 
to  his  classes  are  almost  as  rare  as  the  inspector's,  and  so 
far  as  I  was  able  to  find  out  his  directing  of  the  work  of 
the  school  is  all  done  at  long  range,  so  to  speak.  This  is 
undoubtedly  the  best  solution  possible,  for  it  is  rather"  rare 
to  find  the  professors  looking  up  to  their  head  master  as  their 
intellectual  superior.     As  more  than  one  of  them  said  to  me, 

1  Raiberti,  Regime  des  lyctes,  p.  55,  in  EnquAte,  VI. 

2  Ribot,    Enquete  Introduction  gene'rale,  VI.,  p.  10. 
8  Fourteau,  in  EnqvAte,  I.,  p.  565. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         107 

"  As  far  as  academic  distinctions  are  concerned,  many  of  the 
head  masters  are  not  our  equals,  nor  even  do  they  represent 
the  best  of  the  professors.  (J  do  not  know  that  my  own  pro- 
viseur  is  competent  to  criticize  my  work."1  There  is  even 
more  justification  for  this  feeling  on  the  part  of  the  science 
teachers  when  the  head  master  happens  to  be  a  classicist,  as 
is  usually  the  case.  The  head  masters  hold  the  regular 
teachers'  meetings  required  by  the  regulations,  but  it  is  the 
exception  rather  than  the  rule  to  find,  as  I  found  at  Lille, 
one  who  gathered  once  in  three  months  the  teachers  in 
every  department  or  group  of  allied  subjects  to  discuss 
pedagogical  questions  of  vital  importance.  The  head  master 
there  was  keen  enough  to  appreciate  his  own  shortcomings 
and  took  pains  previously  to  inform  himself  thoroughly  on 
all  points  that  were  likely  to  come  up  at  a  given  session. 
Thus  although  himself  a  former  classical  teacher  he  was 
able  to  take  intelligent  part  in  discussions  affecting  the 
progress  of  the  science  divisions.  In  the  main,  then,  all 
the  expert  inspection  in  the  secondary  schools  is  turned  over 
to  the  academy  inspectors,  and  the  real  educational  progress 
of  the  institution  depends  upon  the  teachers  rather  than 
upon  the  hej^  master. 

Although  the  censor  ranks  next  to  the  head  master  and 
discharges  his  duties  in  case  of  temporary  incapacity,  he  is  a         / 
sulKmaster  with  certain  very  special  functions.  0-V,  \j 

He  looTss  after  the  resident  pupils  when  they  c*L   " 

go  to  bed  and  when  they  rise ;  he  looks  after  them  at  their  i^^ 
meals  ;  he  supervises  their  recreations,  both  within  and  with- 
out the  lyc^e ;  he  is  the  immediate  superior  of  the  study  room 
masters  ;  he  is  always  in  the  courtyard  at  the  opening  of  the 
sessions,  and  the  laggards  have  to  seek  cards  from  him  before 
going  to  their  class  rooms.  In  a  word  he  is  a  regular  disci- 
pline master.  Furthermore  he  is  a  gftTwal  medium  of  rnm- 
munication  between  the  head  master^ajid  thft  school.  The 
marks  are  turned  in  to  him  every  night,  and  he  reports  to 
the  head  of  the  school  in  the  morning  on  the  general  condi- 
tion of  the  lyc£e,  transmitting  to  him  the  record  of  each  boy 


108  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

as  it  came  in  for  the  previous  day.  The  post  of  censor 
at  Paris  is  generally  considered  more  desirable  than  that  of 
head  master  in  the  provincial  towns,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
censors  at  the  capital  have  come  up  in  this  fashion. 

The  department  of  the  bursar,  econome,  is  quite  distinct  \ 
from  the  teaching  force  of  the  school.     The  bursar  receives  ] 
the  fees,  provides  the  food  and  supplies,  arranges  / 
the  menus,  and  acts  as  a  general  financial  agent.  / 
He  is  also  a  veritable  superintendent  of  buildings  and  grounds, 
and  so  has  charge  of  all  the  domestics  on  the  premises.     In 
one  of  the  less  important  lycees  of  Paris,  the  bursar  has  no 
fewer  than  forty  servants  under  his  control.     So  in  addition 
to  being  a  good  accountant,  he  must  also  possess  considerable 
executive  ability.     The  bursarship  thus  constitutes  a  career 
in  itself.     The  regular  progress  of  advancement  begins  with 
the  tutor,  and  passes  thence  through  the  grades  of  book- 
keeper and  assistant  bursar. 

The  teaching  force  proper  of  the  lycees  includes  : 1 

(1)  The  professors  and  the  acting  professors  in  charge  of  the 
classes ;  these  are  the  teachers  down  through  the  sixth  form ; 

(2)  the  professors  of  the  elementary  classes,  the  teachers  of  the 
seventh  and  eighth  forms ; 

(3)  the  primary  teachers,  in  the  two  years  of  the  preparatory 
division  and  the  beginning  class  (classe  enfantine) ; 

(4)  the  professors  and  acting  professors  of  drawing  ; 

(5)  the  professors  of  gymnastics  ;  and 

(6)  the  laboratory  assistants. 

No  one  may  be  appointed  a  regular  professor  unless  he  is 
twenty-five  years  old,  has  been  five  years  in  the  educational 

service  of  the  State,  and  holds  the  title  ofjLg#4ge. 

The  acting  professors  in  charge  of  classes  re- 
ceive their  appointments  only  when  there  is  a  lack  of  agreges 
for  the  positions  in  question.  They  are  required  to  hold  only 
the  master's  degree  in  letters  or  science,  or  one  of  the  certifi- 

1  Gobron,  Legislation  et  jurisprudence  de  I'enseignement  public  et  de  Ten- 
seignement  priv6  en  France  et  en  Algerie,  ed.  1900,  p.  510. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         109 

cates  for  teaching  modern  languages,  and  academically,  at 
least,  form  a  class  distinctly  inferior  to  the  agreges.  Most 
of  them  at  first  look  forward  to  the  agregation  and  a  regular 
professorship,  but  after  several  failures  to  pass  the  competi- 
tive examination  they  apparently  accept  the  inevitable,  and 
settle  down.  Their  salary  is  five  hundred  francs  less  than 
that  of  an  agrege  doing  exactly  similar  work,  and  it  is  not 
so  easy  for  them  to  gravitate  toward  Paris,  the  Mecca  of 
most  French  teachers.  The  professors  of  the  elementary 
classes  in  the  lyc^es  must  hold  the  master's  degree  x>r  a 
special^certificate  forteaching  in  thp.se  element^y  fi1aissp.a. 
The  men  and  women  primary  teachers  are  taken  from  the 
members  of  the  teaching  force  of  the  primary  system  that 
hold  the  highest  grade  certificates  in  that  system.  They  re- 
ceive the  same  salary  and  continue  to  hold  the  same  rights 
and  privileges  as  though  they  were  still  attached  to  a  regular 
primary  school.  The  possession  of  the  certificate  for  teach- 
ing English  or  German  enables  them  to  add  three  hundred 
francs  per  year  to  their  salaries.  Professors  and  acting  pro- 
fessors of  drawing  must  hold  respectively  tha  higher  and  the 
elementary  certificate  for  teaching  that  anhfort,.  The  labora- 
tory assistants  (preparateurs)  for  the  science  work  must  hold 
the  master's  degree ,  in  science.  The  French  title  is  much 
more  descriptive  of  the  character  of  the  duties  of  these  men 
than  is  the  English  equivalent,  for  they  are  real  "  preparers  " 
for  the  laboratory  work.  The  French  laboratory  is  quite 
bereft  of  all  movable  equipment,  the  Bunsen  burner  being 
about  the  only  exception  to  this  statement.  Consequently, 
the  apparatus  and  supplies  for  every  laboratory  period  have 
to  be  assembled  in  the  general  laboratory  and  brought  in 
to  the  student  tables.  Besides  this,  the  preparateur  per- 
forms the  duties  of  an  ordinary  laboratory  assistant  during 
the  class  period.  In  one  of  the  lyce'es  of  Paris,  which  is 
especially  devoted  to  scientific  instruction,  there  are  no 
fewer  than  four  of  these  assistants,  and  they  are  all  kept 
busy. 
rThe  regular  professors  are  the  backbone  of  the  French 


110  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

secondary   system.     Notwithstanding   all    the    criticism   to 

which  the  schools  have  been  subjected,  hardly  a  voice  has 

been  raised  against  the  teachers.     They  are  as  fine  a  body 

„    .  of  men  as  one  is  likely  to  find,  and  from  the 

x roicssors 

standpoint  of  academic  qualifications,  at  least, 
are  not  to  be  surpassed.  Certainly  our  American  teachers  are 
not  serious  rivals,  fone  reason  for  this,  perhaps,  is  that  in 
France  teaching  is  a  profession^  it  is  never  the  stepping 
stone  to  business  or  to  another  profession.  A  man  takes  it 
up  seriously  as  a  life  work.  The  preparation  is  long,  and  the 
competition  strenuous,  so  that  once  he  has  put  his  hand  to 
the  plow,  he  cannot  afford  to  turn  back.  fMany  fall  by  the 
wayside,  but  once  the  goal  is  attained,  the  honor  is  large) 
the  tenure  is  secure,  and  a  retiring  pension  is  assured. 
With  us  in  America,  we  may  fairly  say  that  the  tenure  is 
reasonably  secure,  but  for  the  very  great  majority  of  our 
secondary  teachers  the  honor  and  the  pension  are  still  to 
be  attained.  From  our  own  point  of  view,  the  French 
secondary  teacher  is  lacking  in  personal  sympathy  with 
his  pupils,  or  at  least  from  the  manifestation  of  it.  He 
meets  them  only  in  the  class  room,  and  although  the  French 
educational  writers  are  constantly  contrasting  education  and 
instruction  and  are  continually  emphasizing  the  former,  as 
far  as  my  own  observation  goes,(the  French  teacher  devotes 
himself  almost  exclusively  to  developing  the  intellect  of  his 
pupils.)  It  must  be  admitted  that  he  succeeds  in  this  task. 
In  the  lecture  room  he  throws  himself  heart  and  soul  into 
his  class  work,  but  outside  he  jealously  guards  his  time  as 
his  own„  and  usually  devotes  it  to  his  professional  advance- 
ment. This,  together  with  the  very  exclusive  character  of 
the  French  family  life,  explains  why  it  is  so  rare  that  the 
professors  can  be  induced  to  take  secondary  pupils  into 
their  homes.  Thus  they  never  come  into  the  same  personal 
contact  with  their  pupils  that  we  find  in  the  great  English 
public  schools  and  at  the  corresponding  American  schools, 
such  as  Andover,  Exeter,  and  Lawrenceville.  Indeed,  such 
relations  would  be  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  French  pro- 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         111 

fessor.  This  forces  the  employment  of  tutors  and  surveil- 
lants  in  the  schools. 

There  is  a  carefully  arranged  schedule  of  maximum  work 
hours  of  service  for  each  class  of  professors.1  In  the  depart- 
ment of  the  Seine  and  at  Versailles  the  teachers  of  higher 
mathematics  are  liable  for  ten  hours ;  the  other  mathematics 
teachers  and  the  upper  form  teachers,  from  twelve  to  four- 
teen hours ;  the  modern  language  teachers  and  the  teachers 
of  other  than  science  subjects  from  the  second  through  the 
sixth  form,  fifteen  hours ;  and  the  elementary  teachers,  nine- 
teen hours.  The  acting  professors  under  fifty  years  of  age 
are  required  to  teach  one  hour  more  than  the  regular  pro- 
fessors doing  the  same  work.  Furthermore,  every  one  must 
hold  himself  ready  to  give  two  hours  additional,  but  for  this 
he  receives  extra  remuneration.  This  supplement  is  always 
required  from  the  higher  mathematics  teachers,  and  usually 
from  the  others.  In  the  provincial  ly c^es,  the  same  general 
conditions  prevail  save  that  the  maximum  weekly  service 
runs  one  or  two  hours  higher.  In  Paris,  particularly,  where 
the  living  expenses  are  heavy,  the  professors  are  often  glad 
of  the  opportunity  to  put  in  even  extra  supplementary  hours. 
This  works  to  the  mutual  advantage  of  the  Ministry  and 
the  individual,  for  it  saves  the  appointment  of  additional 
teachers,  and  enables  the  strong  and  vigorous  men  to  add 
appreciably  to  their  incomes. 

The  surveillance  of  the  pupils  and  the  supervision  of  the 
study  periods  are  quite  divorced  from  the  class  work.  The 
general  surveillant  is  an  assistant  to  the  censor,    „ 

,        ,.  ,  .  „  ,        „   ,,  ,  Surveillance. 

and  relieves  him  of  much  of  the  yard  super- 
vision. The  bulk  of  the  surveillance  duties  falls  to  the  lot- 
of  the  tutors  (repetiteurs).  These  are  of  two  orders,  the  pro- 
bationers and  the  regulars.  The  probationers  are  appointed 
by  the  rector  for  a  period  of  three  months.  At  the  end  of 
that  time,  if  their  work  has  been  satisfactory,  they  receive  a 
regular  appointment  from  the  Minister.  These  tutors  with 
regular  appointments  fall  into  two  grades ;  those  that  come 

1  Arritt,  Aug.  25,  1902,  Wissemans,  op.  cit.,  p.  97. 


112  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

up  in  the  way  just  described  and  hold  the  master's  degree, 
and  those  that  have  been  promoted  from  similar  positions  in 
the  colleges  and  that  hold  only  the  bachelor's  degree.  We 
have  nothing  in  our  school  system  that  is  at  all  comparable 
to  Ihe  work  of  these  men.  It  is  mainly  supervision  of  study 
periods,  although  there  is  a  little  hearing  of  lessons,  and  a 
good  deal  of  police  duty.  The  tutors  are  responsible  for  the 
conduct  of  the  boys  and  the  maintenance  of  good  discipline 
from  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  until  dinner  time.  There  is 
a  tutor  in  every  study  room  (salle  d'etudes).  He  supervises 
the  study  period,  directs  the  work  of  the  pupils,  sees  that 
they  do  their  tasks  neatly,  that  their  lessons  are  properly 
prepared,  and  he  transmits  regularly  to  the  censor  and  to 
their  professors,  marks  on  their  study  room  work.  He  may 
even  be  assigned  to  give  outside  instruction  to  individual 
pupils  under  the  direction  of  the  regular  teacher.  The  tutor 
certainly  occupies  an  unenviable  place.  Every  one  probably 
entered  his  present  position  with  the  hope  of  making  it  a 
stepping  stone  to  something  higher,  eventually  of  reaching  a 
professorship,  but  nearly  all  of  them  have  been  doomed  to 
disappointment.  As  one  of  them  said  to  me :  "  Here  I  am 
in  Paris  within  two  hundred  yards  of  the  university,  and  my 
time  is  so  taken  up  at  the  lyc^e  that  I  have  no  leisure  to 
attend  lectures  or  even  to  advance  my  scholarship."  And 
this  was  a  young  man  only  slightly  over  thirty  years  of  age. 
One  of  the  reports  of  the  Parliamentary  Commission  con- 
tinues the  story:  "Out  of  1,574  tutors  in  the  lyc^es,  238 
have  less  than  five  years  of  service;  475  have  from  five  to 
ten  years;  764  from  ten  to  twenty  years;  97  have  more 
than  twenty  years.  Out  of  the  same  number,  531  are 
between  twenty  and  thirty  years  of  age ;  973  between  thirty 
and  forty;  109  between  forty  and  fifty;  and  111  between 
fifty  and  sixty.  In  other  words,  nearly  two  thirds  of  the 
tutors  are  already  passed  thirty  years  of  age,  and  almost  half 
of  them  have  spent  more  than  ten  years  in  the  service.  Out 
of  1,574  tutors  in  the  lyc^es  and  745  in  the  colleges,  2,319  in 
all,  only  90  left  during  the  year  1898-1899  either  through 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         113 

promotion  or  resignation  or  retirement.  .  .  .  They  are  either 
too  young  or  too  old ;  if  young,  they  are  thinking  only  of 
their  examinations ;  if  old,  they  have  become  embittered  and 
discouraged." 2 

Below  the  tutors  are  the  ordinary  surveillants,  commonly 
known  as  the  dormitory  surveillants.  These  are  chiefly 
young  men  that  already  possess  the  bachelor's 
degree  and  are  carrying  on  their  studies  survSilants. 
in  the  higher  faculties.  They  are  not  even 
classed  in  the  regular  force,  but  are  selected  and  dismissed 
at  the  will  of  the  head  master.  The  position  is  a  good 
one  for  a  student,  for  since  he  is  ordinarily  on  duty  only 
from  severe  o'clock  at  night  until  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  he  is  able  to  support  himself  while  he  is  study- 
ing and  yet  have  a  good  working  day  at  his  own  disposal. 
He  sleeps  in  the  dormitory  where  he  can  keep  an  eye 
on  the  boys,  although  he  has  a  section  that  is  at  least 
curtained  off  from  the  rest  of  the  room,  and  he  is  re- 
sponsible for  seeing  that  everything  goes  well  during  the 
night.  He  likewise  has  charge  of  the  boys  during  the  first 
study  period  of  the  day,  which  comes  before  breakfast.  In  the 
university  centres  the  recruitment  of  these  dormitory  surveil- 
lants is  a  simple  matter,  for  the  large  numbers  of  students 
in  the  various  faculties  furnish  the  head  masters  with  a 
supply  of  available  young  men  far  in  excess  of  any  pos- 
sible demand.  Outside  the  university  towns,  however,  the 
situation  often  presents  considerable  difficulty.  There  de- 
pendence has  to  be  placed  upon  young  men  sometimes 
just  fresh  from  the  lyc^es  themselves,  who  are  able  to 
prepare  for  some  higher  examination  without  following 
any  regular  lectures,  together  with  occasional  assistance 
obtained  from  the  younger  unmarried  tutors.  In  many 
cases  the  dormitory  surveillant  is  so  youthful  as  to  be  in 
almost  as  much  need  of  supervision  as  the  boys  over 
whom  he  is  appointed.  He  is  thus  but  little  more  than 
a   monitor.     In  one  school   that  I  visited,  the   dormitories 

1  Raiberti,  Hdgime  des  lycte,  pp.  96-98,  in  Enquite,  VI. 


114  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

were  locked  for  the  night,  and  ordinary  egress  was  im- 
possible for  the  surveillant  as  well  as  for  the  boys.  A 
key  was  enclosed  in  a  glass  wall  box  beside  each  exit 
for  use  only  in  emergency  cases.  The  whole  arrangement 
is  a  decidedly  questionable  contrivance,  but  it  serves  to 
indicate  the  measure  of  authority  these  surveillants  enjoy 
as  well  as  the  amount  of  confidence  reposed  in  them. 

It  is  amazing  to  us  to  see  how  many  persons  it  requires 
to  run  a  French  lyc£e.     In  one  of  the  Paris  schools  which 

has   about    950    pupils    enrolled,    divided   as 
R^tadf     follows:  boarding  pupils    100;  half  boarders 

250,  that  is,  pupils  that  remain  at  the  school 
from  the  opening  in  the  morning  until  seven  o'clock  at 
night  —  these  have  the  midday  meal  and  a  light  luncheon 
in  the  middle  of  the  afternoon  at  the  school,  and  have  the 
study  room  privileges  of  the  boarding  pupils;  day  pupils 
that  study  at  the  school  under  supervision  80 ;  and  or- 
dinary day  pupils  520 ;  there  are  ninety-nine  different 
persons  in  the  administrative,  teaching,  and  surveillance 
departments.  This  includes  the  bursar  and  his  two  assist- 
ants, but  takes  no  account  of  the  attendants  under  his 
direction,  nor  of  the  dormitory  surveillants.  It  is  safe  to 
count  on  at  least  fifty  domestics  in  this  school.  Of  course, 
some  of  these  are  required  exclusively  on  account  of  the 
boarding  pupils  and  the  half  boarders,  but  when  all 
allowances  have  been  made  the  number  seems  rather 
formidable. 


,         From  the  head    down,  the    standard.  °f    gnfllifmntin-n  of 

J/^Ahe  personnel    of  the  colleges    in  the    main    is — distinctly 

f\s  inferior  to   that  of.JJip,   lyc^es,  although  the 

^rCoUeces  c°Ueges  are  ne^  to  tne  same  general  pro- 
gram and  are  expected  to  do  the  same 
work.  The  reorganization  of  the  secondary  school  system, 
in  1902,  raised  the  minimum  qualifications  for  these  col- 
lege positions  somewhat.  Henceforth  the  new  principals 
will  be  required  to  hold  the  master's  degree  or  else  to 
have  been  a  regular  professor  in  a  college   or  an   acting 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         115 

professor  in  a  lycde.1  In  the  municipal  colleges,  the 
duties  of  the  oen^or,  where  there  is  occasion  for  such  an 
official,  are  almost  invariably  discharged  by  a  general  sur- 
veillant.  In  many  of  the  smaller  schools  one  or  more  of 
the  professors  are  designated  to  perform  such  functions. 
/The  professors  of  the  colleges  are  divided  into  three  orders. 
fThe  first  includes  the  aareges,  those  that  hold  the  master's 
*  degree,  one  of  the  special  certificates  for  teaching  in  secondary 
schools  or  the  diploma  of  the  old  Cluny  normal  school  Jthe 
second  the  holders  of  the  simple  bachelor's  degree ;  the  third, 
the  holders  of  the  higher  diploma  (brevet  superieur)  and  the 
certificate  of  teaching  ability  (certificat  d' aptitude  pedago- 
gique ).  2  As  in  the  lyce*es  the  tutors  are  divided  into  two 
groups,  the  probationers  and  the  regulars.  The  former, 
simple  bachelors,  are  appointed  by  the  rector  for  a  year's 
trial,  and  then  if  satisfactory  they  receive  a  ministerial 
appointment.  Holders  of  the  master's  degree  are  relieved 
from  this  period  of  probation.3 

The  decree  of   December   28,  1903,  4   went  a  long  way 
toward  simplifying   the  very  complex   division  into  classes 
of  the  various  grades  of   functionaries  in  the      classes  of 
secondary  school  system.     Save   for  a  few  of   Teachers  and 
the   tutors   and   a   small  group   of   professors     Promotlon- 
lagreges,  all  the  functionaries   of   every  order   in  the   boys' 
(  andgirls'Jyce'es  and  colleges  jrrft  nxtifflgaly  divided   into 
sbL_xlasses.     Every   new  appointee   begins   in   the   lowest 
class  of  his  order.     At  least  two   years    of  service  are  re- 
quired in  the  sixth  class  before  the    individual  is  eligible 
for  promotion  to  the  fifth;  in  the  fifth  class  the  minimum 
service  is  three  years;  in  the  fourth  class,  four  years;  and 
in  the  third  and   second  classes  ,  five  years   each.     These 
minima   are  reduced   one  year   in  each  case  for  the   func- 
tionaries   of   the  lyce'es    of    Paris    and    Versailles,  for  the 

1  Dicret,  May  31,  1902,  Art.  2,  Wissemans,  op.  cit.,  p.  164. 
a  Dicret,  June  27,  1892,  Arts.  1-2,  ibid.,  p.  93. 
8  Decret,  Aug.  28,  1891,  Arts.  10-11,  ibid.,  pp.  83-84. 
4  Wissemans,  op.  cit.,  pp.  189-190. 


116  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

censors  and  the  bursars  of  the  lyce"es,  and  for  the  princi- 
pals of  the  colleges,  and  for  the  directresses  and  bursars 
of  the  girls'  lyc£es.  There  are  furthermore  some  minor 
modifications  on  account  of  age.  For  the  classes  below 
the  second,  promotions  are  made,  one  half  by  reason  of 
length  of  service,  and  one  half  from  choice;  for  the  sec- 
ond and  the  first  classes,  one  third  on  the  basis  of  ser- 
vice, and  two  thirds  on  choice.1 

The  table  on  page  117  based  upon  the  decree  of  1910 
shows  the  salary  schedule  for  the  staff  of  the  boys'  lyce*es 
and  colleges. 

The  head  masters  of  the  lyceV.s  are  classed  as  regular  pro- 
fessors, and  they  are  promoted  under  the  same  conditions. 
For  their  work  as  directors  they  receive  from  2,000  to  4,000 
francs  per  year  extra,  but  the  average  of  all  such  salaries 
must  not  exceed  3,000  francs.2  Under  this  schedule,  the 
maximum  salary  for  the  head  masters  is  13,500  francs  in 
Paris  and  11,200  francs  in  the  departments.  Furthermore, 
the  head  master  is  given  an  apartment  in  the  lycee  and  has 
a  certain  annual  allowance  of  wood  and  oil.  The  censors, 
bursars,  and  general  surveillants  likewise  have  their  lodgings 
at  the  schools  and  smaller  allowances  of  the  same  nature  for 
heating  and  lighting.  In  the  case  of  the  head  master  these 
amount  to  thirteen  steres  of  wood  and  seventy-five  kilograms 
of  oil  per  annum.  In  Paris  and  Seine-et-Oise  the  censors 
receive  either  8,000  or  9,000  francs,  aside  from  the  500  francs 
bonus  for  the  agregation.  The  bursars  in  the  same  lycdes 
are  likewise  grouped  together  and  receive  8,000  francs.  All 
the  bursars  in  lycdes  receive  an  additional  percentage  of  two 
tenths  of  one  per  cent  on  the  first  200,000  francs  of  actual 

1  Decret,  July,20,  1889,  Art.  1,  Wissemans,  op.  cit.,  p.66. 

A  recent  law  has  still  further  modified  the  scheme  of  promotion.  Accord- 
ing to  the  terms  of  this  law,  fifteen  per  cent  of  the  teaching  and  administrative 
staff'  who  have  completed  the  minimum  service  in  their  class  may  be  selected 
for  advancement  from  choice.  This  promotion  comes  as  a  right  to  all  the  others 
after  they  have  spent  two  years  more  than  the  prescribed  minimum  period 
in  any  particular  class.     Loi,  April  7, 1908,  Bull,  adm.,  1908,  I.,  pp.  549-550, 

a  Decret,  May  31,  1902,  Art.  3,  Wissemans,  op.  cit.,  p.  164. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE 


117 


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118  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

receipts,  and  one  tenth  of  one  per  cent  on  sums  in  excess  of 
200,000  francs.  In  noting  the  very  small  amounts  paid  the 
tutors  in  the  colleges,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  these 
men  have  their  board  and  lodging  at  the  school.  The  value 
of  this  is  officially  reckoned  at  1,000  francs  per  year.  By 
reason  of  the  generosity  of  the  municipal  councils  of  Lyon 
and  Marseille,  the  salaries  of  the  lycee  staffs  of  these  two 
cities  range  from  two  hundred  to  seven  hundred  francs  per 
year  higher  than  in  the  other  provincial  lycdes.1  Bordeaux 
and  Lille  did  likewise  (1913). 

In  every  case  the  salary  is  attached  to  the  n1tw?  and  does  + 
not  bear  any  relation  to  the  school  per  se.  Thus  a  teacher 
may  be  transferred  from  a  small  lycee  in  the  south  to  a 
large  lyce'e  in  the  extreme  north  or  vice  versa,  yet  his  salary 
will  not  necessarily  be  affected  in  the  least.  If  he  is  brought 
to  Paris,  however,  he  falls  into  another  category  and  benefits 
considerably  thereby.  It  requires  only  a  glance  at  the  fore- 
going schedule  to  see  how  desirable  the  Paris  appointments 
are.  The  salary  of  the  regular  professors  of  even  the  sixth 
class  at  Paris,  including,  of  course,  their  agregation  bonus,  is 
equal  to  that  of  a  principal  of  a  provincial  college  of  the 
first  class.  All  of  these  salaries  seem  remarkably  low  from 
our  point  of  view.  After  making  due  allowance  for  the 
rent,  13,500  francs,  the  very  highest  salary  of  the  head  mas- 
ter of  a  Paris  lyc6e,  does  not  compare  at  all  favorably  with 
the  salaries  of  the  principals  of  the  high  schools  in  New 
York  and  our  other  large  cities.2  Remember,  too,  that  the 
French  head  master,  even  under  the  most  fortunate  combina- 
tion of  circumstances  possible,  cannot  reach  his  maximum 

1  Dtcret,  May  8,  1904,  Wissbmans,  op.  cit.,  pp.  196-197. 

2  Comparing  the  figures  with  the  salary  schedules  for  Germany,  given  in 
Russell,  German  higher  schools,  Appendix  F,  we  find  that  Paris  head  mas- 
ters begin  at  a  salary  exactly  equivalent  to  that  of  the  Berlin  principals.  In 
Paris  the  promotion  is  rather  more  rapid,  and  the  maximum  salary  is  consid- 
erably higher.  For  the  most  part  the  provincial  principals  in  Germany  are 
rather  better  off  than  the  corresponding  masters  in  France.  Among  the  regu- 
lar teachers,  however,  the  advantage  is  all  with  the  French,  save  that  after 
twenty-one  years  of  service,  the  German  country  teacher  is  slightly  to  the 
good. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         119 

before  he  is  forty-four  years  of  age.  In  practice  he  is  well 
over  fifty  before  he  receives  this  salary,  and  if  he  did  not 
gain  the  agregation  in  his  youth,  even  this  will  always  be 
beyond  his  reach. 

For  more  than  half  a  century  the  French  government  has 
had  a  national  jDejasj&nJaw x  applicable  to  all  officials  paid 
from  the  public  treasury.  The  basis  of  the  Pen  . 
pension  fund  is  provided  partly-by  laving  a  tax 
nf  thp.  twelfth  part  of  the  first  year's  salary  as  well  as  a  like 
nortion  of  each  subsequent  increase,  but  chiefly  from  the  pro- 
Weeds  of  a  five  per  cent  tax  on  all  regular  salaries.  The 
teachers'  deductions  in  pay  on  account  of  absence  or  punish- 
ments likewise  help  swell  this  fund.  The  major  part  of  the 
primary  school  teachers  are  classed  in  the  active  division 
which  makes  them  eligible  for  a  pension  when  they  have 
reached  the  age  of  fifty-five  and  after  twenty-five  years  of 
service;  while  the  secondary  and  university  teachers  fall 
into  the  passive  division  and  become  eligible  at  sixty  years 
of  age  and  after  thirty  years  of  service.  The  time  spent  at 
the  higher  normal  schools  after  the  age  of  twenty  is  included 
in  this  service  period.  In  the  passive  class  the  pension  is 
reckoned  at  one  sixtieth  for  each  year  of  service,  calculated 
on  the  average  salary  of  the  last  six  years  as  a  basis.  This 
gives  the  secondary  teacher  an  ordinary  retiring  pension  of 
one  half  this  average  sum,  but  in  no  case  may  it  amount  to 
more  than  two  thirds  of  this  figure  nor  exceed  six  thousand 
fjarics,  )  Special  regulations  apply  to  cases  where  the  indi- 
vidual is  seriously  injured  or  dies  in  the  performance  of  his 
duty.  In  this  latter  event,  the  widow's  pension  is  two  thirds 
of  what  her  husband's  would  have  been.  Under  normal 
circumstances,  a  widow  must  have  been  married  six  years 
before  her  husband's  retirement  in  order  to  draw  a  pension. 
It  is  then  one  third  of  what  her  husband  received.  Orphan 
children  divide  the  mother's  share  until  they  reach  the  age 
of  twenty-one.  The  widow's  or  orphan's  pension  is  never 
less  than  one  hundred  francs  per  year. 

1  Loi,  June  9,  1853,  Wissemans,  op.  cit.t  pp.  10-18. 


120  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Every  member  of  the  secondary  teaching  force  is  exempt 
from  all  matriculation  charges  in  the  faculties  or  other 
state  higher  institutions  of  learning,  as  well 
as  from  all  library,  examination,  certificate, 
and  diploma  fees  for  the  master's  degree.  The  children 
and  wards  of  the  functionaries  of  the  secondary  system  re- 
ceive free  tuition  as  day  pupils  or  as  day  pupils  studying 
under  supervision  at  the  boys'  and  girls'  lycees,  and  at  the 
boys'  colleges.  Through  some  oversight  the  same  privileges 
do  not  apply  to  girls'  colleges  and  secondary  course's  (cours 
secondaires),  but  inasmuch  as  the  primary  officials  have  fred^ 
tuition  privileges  in  all  these  various  categories  of  schools, 
similar  favors  will  probably  be  made  general  for  the  second- 
ary teachers  and  administrative  officers.  The  value  of  all 
such  exemptions  in  the  budget  of  1908  amounts  to  more 
than  a  million  and  three  quarters  of  francs,1  nearly  one  third 
being  on  the  account  of  the  officers  and  teachers  of  the 
secondary  school  system,  and  the  remainder  on  the  account 
of  those  in  the  primary  school  system. 

Like  so  many  other  questions  in  the  school  administra- 
tion, the  system  of  punishments  to  which  officials  may  be 
subject  is  wonderfully  complex  but  at  the  same 
time  wonderfully  explicit.  There  seems  to  be 
no  doubt  as  to  what  may  be  done  and  under  what  author- 
ity. The  regular  teachers  of  both  lycees  and  colleges  are 
guaranteed  the  same  protection  that  is  accorded  mem- 
bers of  the  faculties,  and  the  punishments  inflicted  are 
comparatively  rare.  Disciplinary  processes  fall  into  three 
general  categories,  depending  upon  the  authority  that  has 
the  power  to  inflict  them. 

(1)  The  Minister  may  pronounce  a  reprimand  before  the 
academic  council  or  before  the  superior  council,  neither  of  these 
being  subject  to  appeal ;  or  he  may  suspend  the  professor  without 
loss  of  salary  for  a  period  not  exceeding  one  year. 

(2)  The   Minister  with    the  sanction    of  the  permanent   sec- 

1  Budget  general ,de  Vexercice,  1908,  sec.  1,  p.  313. 


ADMINISTRATION  AND  TEACHING  FORCE         121 

tion  of  the  superior  council  may  transfer  a  professor  to  a  lower 
position. 

(3)  The  punishments  that  may  be  inflicted  by  the  academic 
council  are  all  subject  to  appeal  to  the  superior  council.  They 
are  of  four  sorts :  suspension  with  partial  or  total  loss  of  salary, 
removal,  revocation,  and  permanent  disbarment.1 

The  disciplinary  regulations  to  which  the  tutors  are  sub- 
jected are  quite  distinct  from  the  foregoing.  They  are  no 
fewer  than  nine  in  number,  varying  from  the  simple  "  warn- 
ig"  of  the  academy  inspector  to  permanent  disbarment 
bom  teaching  pronounced  by  the  academic  council,  subject 
to  the  ordinary  conditions  of  appeal  to  the  superior  council. 

Besides  the  perquisites  above  referred  to,  there  are  liter- 
an^_Jhi2U^ands.of  Higtjnrtfom  awarded  every  year  to  the 
officers   and    teachers  oiL-thft   p.dn  rational    sys-  .      . 

tern.  The  French  people  seem  almost  to  have 
a  mania  for  decorations,  for  these  range  from  membership 
in  the  Institute  down  to  the  bronze  medal  awarded  for  suc- 
cess in  securing  revaccinations  among  primary  school  chil- 
dren. \  The  origin  of  the  ordinary  honorable  distinctions 
dates  from  Napoleon's  foundation  of  the  University  just  a 
hundred  years  ago.  There  are  two  to  which  the  staff  of  the 
secondary  system  is  ordinarily  eligible :  officer  of  the  acad- 
emy; and  officer  of  public  instruction.  These  distinctions, 
however,  are  confined  neither  to  the  secondary  schools,  nor 
even  to  the  officials  of  the  educational  system.  They  serve 
two  general  purposes  :  in  the  first  place  to  offer  public  recog- 
nition to  teachers  and  members  of  learned  societies  for  work 
really  meriting  such  recognition ;  and  in  the  second  place  to 
provide  a  means  of  extending  the  popularity  of  the  govern- 
ment. Members  of  the  secondary  system  must  be  proposed . 
by  the  rector  on  recommendation  of  the  academy  inspector. 
In  general  one  must  have  been  officer  of  the  academy  for 
five  years  before  being  named  officer  of  public  instruction. 
The  value  of  these  distinctions  necessarily  decreases  with 

1  Loi,  Feb.  27,  1880,  Gobron,  Legislation  de  renseignement,  pp.  529-530. 


122  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

their  numbers.  In  the  Paris  lycee  already  referred  to,  .of 
the  ninety -ninp.  persons  in. the  a  rlra^ni  strati  vp,,  teaching,  jvnrl 
nirpvPTlla p pp  rl ppg rt™ pp fa,  seventy-five  of  them  are  either 
officers  of  the  academy,  or  officers  of  public  instruction,  and 
fourteen  of  the  remainder  are  merely  tutors.i  It  goes  with- 
out saying  that  this  proportion  is  likely  to  oe  larger  in  the 
Paris  schools,  but  in  a  small  lyce'e  in  the  extreme  south 
selected  at  random,  aside  from  the  tutors,  exactly  three 
quarters  of  the  staff  belong  to  one  of  these  two  orders. 

When  the  accounts  have  been  cast,  it  must  be  admitteo^ 
that  the  lot  of  the  French  regular  secondary  teacher  is  fal^ 
from  unsatisfactory.  While  apparently  his  salary  is  poor 
compared  with  many  of  those  paid  in  America,  relatively  he 
is  much  better  paid.  He  has  labored  hard  to  reach  his 
position,  but  he  has  a  government  appointment  which  carries 
respect  with  it.  His  tenure  is  secure,  promotion  is  slow  but 
reasonably  certain,  and  at  retirement  his  pension  is  assured. 
Furthermore,  he  is  able  to  live  in  the  community  comfort- 
ably on  an  equality  with  those  of  his  neighbors  whose  tastes 
are  similar  to  his  own. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE    PROGRAM 

«en  to  the  casual  observer  of  the  trend  of  educational 
>ught  in  France  during  the  last  two  decades,  the  struggle 
that  has  been  going  on  in  the  field  of  secon- 
dary education  has  been  plainly  evident.  The  tlie  classics. 
marked  evolution  in  the  ideas  concerning  sec- 
ondary education  has  followed  closely  upon  the  evolution  in 
the  economic  and  social  world.  T>.  h^s,  hp.en  thp.  Rt-.rift> 
between  utilitarianism  and  dip.tp.  r.nlf.niy.  between  realism 
and  humanism.  It  has  beenthe  effort  to  force  the  second- 
ary school  to  set  aside  its  former  "m'q11?  fun^i""  nf  pre- 
paring for  t.hp.  university,  and  to  assume  the  added  responsi-  i^a/£- 
bility  of  fitting  for  real  life.  All  through  the  Middle  Ages  \s 
Latin  was  the  very  foundation  of  liberal  culture.  At  times 
Greek  appeared  to  dispute  this  ascendency,  but  in  the  main 
the  Latin  held  its  own.  Eacked  though  it  was  by  the 
forces  of  the  Revolution,  it  nevertheless  quickly  reassumed 
its  old  position  as  the  dominant  culture  force.  The  ma- 
terialism of  the  nineteenth  century  again  challenged  its 
right  of  precedence,  and  this  time  *a  truce  was  arranged. 
Later,  the  program  of  1890-91  bade  fair  to  settle  the 
strife,  but  this  apparent  solution  was  only  temporary.  The 
new  "  modern  "  instruction  did  not  produce  the  anticipated 
results.  Many  of  the  families  still  looked  upon  it  as  in- 
ferior to  the  classical  course,  even  for  those  pupils  preparing 
for  the  great  scientific  schools.  One  thing  that  militated 
seriously  against  the  success  of  the  reform  course  was  the 
fact  that  its  baccalaureate  did  not  share  in  the  privileges  of 
the  old  classical  baccalaureate.     This  was  rather  surprising 


124  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

in  the  case  of  the  medical  school,  fpr  the  Mtorp^fminc 
practically  neglected  the  science  subjects  thai^ilay^ojajcge 
a  part  in  the  preparation  of  the  physician.  It  is  almost  un- 
necessary to  add  that  the  science  course  was  no  more  liber- 
ally inclined  toward  the  philosophical  subjects.    Just  at  that 


t  Jf     point  came  the  parliamentary  investigation  flpmTmssion'*>of 

'  lr      <  MTJiibmb,  and  that  committee  overhauled  the  whole  question 

from  cellar  to  garret.    In  fact  it  is  rather  difficult  to  find  any 


r>> 


A 


question  affecting  secondary  education  that  was  not  touched 
upon  during  the  course  of  that  inquiry.1     The  conclusions 
alone  enumerate  no  fewer  than  fifty-two  separate  point^^P 
Without  attempting  even  to  outline  the  discussions  that 
took  place  there,  suffice  it  to  say  that  they  led  up  directly  to 


%  M.|ift  fnaflajaMiHjta]  rp.form  program  of  1902-  Sav^-^orTrTtrTor 
modifications  this  is  the  progra ™  jr|  for^p  t/j-^ay  i^^t-Jio 
boys'  lyases  and  p.oTTpflp.s  in  Francp.  J  It  certainly  marks  the 
passing  of  the  classics,  not  as  an  instrument  of  general  culture, 
but  as  the  sole  medium  by  which  that  general  culture  could 
be  attained}  Germany  has  already  struggled  with  the  same 
problem  and  has  solved  it,  at  least  temporarily.  America 
has  also  wrestled  with  it,  although  we  have  not  yet  reached 
a  position  of  equilibrium  in  the  matter.  England,  too,  has 
felt  its  influence,  but  the  fact  that  secondary  education  as  it 
used  to  be  understood  has  been  carried  on  there  chiefly 
under  private  auspices  caused  it  to  present  certain  prob- 
lems that  were  not  found  in  the  other  three  countries. 

France  has  come  out  boldly  and  recognized,  at  least  offi- 
cially, the  exact  parityVbetwcen  the  scientificjsducation  and 
the  classical  oduootion.  "Scientific  humanism  has  won  the 
right  of  sitting  side  by  side  with  literary  humanism."2 
Mathematics,  which  up  to  that  time  had  been  merely  a 
tool,  is  henceforth  to  be  put  upon  an  equality  with  letters 

1  EnquSte  sur  V  enseignement  secondaire,  1899,  six  large  quarto  volumes,, 
making  in  all  three  thousand  pages  in  double  column.  Eepresentatives  from 
every  branch  of  the  service,  from  former  ministers  of  public  instruction  to 
simple  professors,  were  invited  to  present  their  views  before  the  commission, 
and  no  detail  was  omitted. 

2  Couyba,  liapport  du  Budget  gintral,  1907,  p.  73. 


THE  PROGRAM  Q2 

as  an  instrument  of  culture.  This  is  no  disparagement  of 
the  classics,  to  which  the  French  are  under  peculiar  obli- 
gation for  the  development  of  their  taste  and 
artistic  nature,  but  merely  makes  open  con-  between7 
fession  of  the  fact  that  science  is  also  to  Iff  Classical  and 
recognized  as  a  means  of  cultuje,  distinct,  to  be  Education, 
sure,  but  nolle"  LllU  lU^s1  ell'ecli  ve.  The  1'orrnerTSrT 
no  longer  be  treated  as  subordinate,  under  the  rubric  of  "  spe- 
cial "  or  "  modern  "  education.  The  old  degrees  of  bachelor  of 
arts  and  bachelor  of  science  have  ceased  to  exist ;  henceforth 
there  is  only  oafcJaacoalaureate.  Whatever  mention  of  sub- 
jects appears  on  its  face,  the  privileges  it  confers  are 
identical.  It  goes  without  saying  that  if  certain  secondary 
courses  are  followed,  certain  advanced  work  cannot  be 
undertaken.  For  instance,  a  student  who  has  studied  Latin 
but  not  Greek  will  be  unable  to  come  up  for  the  master  of 
arts  degree,  because  that  includes  Greek.  If  he  were  will- 
ing to  make  up  this  Greek,  however,  there  would  be  no  other 
obstacle  in  his  way,  for  the  Latin  and  the  other  subjects  in  the 
classical  course  are  practically  identical  with  those  in  the 
Latin-modern  language  section  or  the  Latin-science  section. 
The  official  sanctions  in  civil  life  for  all  these  sections 
are  the  same.  Formerly  the  non-classical  students  were  un- 
able to  compete  for  certain  careers.  Now  all  are  on 
the  same  basis.  \  Furthermore  they  are  now  admitted  alike 
to  the  professional  schools.  A  student  who  passes  his  bacca- 
laureate without  ever  having  studied  a  word  of  Latin  is 
admitted  to  the  law  faculty  or  the  medical  faculty  upon 
exactly  the  same  footing  as  one  who  has  devoted  himself  to 
Latin  and  Greek  throughout  his  course.  Neither  has  any  ad- 
vantage to  his  credit  nor  any  handicap  to  overcome.  In 
either  case  he  received  a  liberal  education ;  his  professional 
education  lies  before  him. 

The  decree  of  the  President  of  the  Eepublic  of  May  31, 
1902,  as  prepared  by  the  Superior  Council  of  Public  In- 
struction, runs  as  follows: 


12y  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

y\ \/     Article  1.    Secondary  instruction  is  co-ordinated  with  primary 
*  i ^/instruction  so  as  to  follow  directly  upon  a  normal  four-year  course 

^    /*  of  primary  study.1 
/  Art.  2.    Secondary  instruction  is  given  in  a  course   of  study 

/  which  extends  over  seven  years  and  is  divided  into  two  cycles  : 

one  oifour  years,  and  one  of  three  years. 


FIEST  CYCLE 

Art.  3.  In  the  first  cycle,  the  pupils  have  a  choice  between 
two  sections. 

In  one  section,  aside  from  the  subjects  common  to  the  two 
sections,  Latin  is  obligatory  from  the  first  year  (the  sixth  form), 
and  Greek  is  optional  beginning  with  the  third  year  (the  fourth 
form). 

In  the  other  section,  which  includes  neither  Latin  nor  Greek, 
more  emphasis  is  put  upon  the  instruction  in  French,  science, 
drawing,  etc. 

Art.  4.  In  both  sections  the  programs  are  arranged  so  that  at 
the  end  of  the  first  cycle  the  pupil  is  in  possession  of  a  certain 
fund  of  serviceable  knowledge  which  is  complete  in  itself. 

Art.  5.  At  the  end  of  the  first  cycle,  a  certificate  of  secondary 
study  of  the  first  degree  may  be  given  to  the  pupils,  on  the  basis 
of  the  marks  they  have  had  during  the  four  years,  and  after  the 
deliberation  of  the  professors  whose  instruction  they  have  followed. 

Candidates  for  the  baccalaureate  have  the  right  to  submit  this 
certificate  to  the  jury.2  It  will  be  given  the  same  weight  as 
the  report  book  in  determining  the  candidate's  standing  at  the 
written  and  at  the  oral  examination. 

1  "This  is  not  exactly  true.  At  the  last  moment  the  Minister  and  the 
superior  council  of  public  instruction  could  not  resign  themselves  to  eliminat- 
ing the  study  of  modern  languages  in  the  eighth  and  seventh  forms  of  the 
secondary  schools.  Thus  the  sixth  form  follows  directly  after  the  seventh, 
but  not  after  the  course  of  the  primary  schools  properly  speaking."  Annuairc 
de  lajeunesse,  1907,  p.  187. 

In  order  not  to  give  the  secondary  pupils  any  undue  advantage,  the 
competitive  examinations  for  scholarships  in  the  lycees  and  colleges  are  based 
exclusively  upon  the  subject  matter  of  the  primary  school  program. 

2  That  is,  the  examination  commission  before  which  the  bachelor's  examina- 
tion is  passed. 


THE  PROGRAM  127 


SECOND   CYCLE 

Art.  6.  In  the  second  cycle,  four  groups  of  courses  are  open  to 
the  pupil : 

1 .  Latin  and  Greek ; 

2.  Latin  with  more  extensive  study  of  modern  languages ; 

3.  Latin  with  more  extensive  study  of  science  ; 

4.  Modern  languages  and  science,  without  Latin. 

This  last  section,  though  intended  normally  for  those  pupils 
that  have  not  had  Latin  during  the  first  cycle,  is  nevertheless 
open  to  those  pupils  who  have  studied  Latin  during  the  first 
cycle,  but  do  not  care  to  pursue  it  further. 

Art.  7.  For  those  pupils  who  are  not  coming  up  for  the  bacca- 
laureate, a  course  of  study  will  be  arranged  in  certain  schools  at 
the  end  of  the  first  cycle  whose  chief  aim  will  be  the  study  of 
modern  languages  and  the  study  of  science  in  its  practical 
applications.  This  will  be  a  two-year  course,  and  will  be  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  the  particular  community.  The  programs  will  be 
arranged  by  the  academic  councils  and  promulgated  by  the 
Minister.1 

At  the  completion  of  this  course  of  study,  and  after  a  public 
examination  on  the  subjects  of  instruction,  a  certificate  may  be 
granted  which  shall  bear  the  name  of  the  academy  where  the 
examination  was  passed,  the  subjects  of  the  examination,  and  the 
marks  obtained. 

The  apparent  effect  of  this  decree  was  to  sepaxate_ccn- 
clusiyely  the  reaLsecondary  coursejronx  the  elementary  or 

1  This  last  provision  marks  an  important  step,  for  it  is  a  definite  attempt 
to  get  away  from  the  almost  absolute  uniformity  that  dominates  the  secondary 
school  system.  It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  this  confers  on  the  academic 
council  nothing  more  than  the  privilege  of  suggestion.  The  Minister  still 
retains  the  power  in  his  own  hands,  for  he  may  accept,  modify,  substitute 
for,  or  reject  any  or  every  part  of  the  proposed  program. 

"  In  the  terms  of  a  ministerial  circular  of  July  19,  1902,  these  courses 
were  to  be  organized  in  only  a  certain  number  of  important  lycees  where  there 
was  a  real  need  for  them.  Furthermore,  these  lycees  must  be  able  to  offer 
both  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  material  equipment  and  of  the  teaching 
force  all  the  resources  necessary  for  a  successful  organization.  We  do  not 
believe  that  any  such  course  has  yet  been  organized."  Annuaire  de  la 
jeunesse,  1907,  p.  181,  note. 


bll 

txHp 


128  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

primary  course.     Ostensibly  it  superimposed  the  secondary 

course,  which  begins  with  the  sixth  form,  upon  the  primary 

school  course  as  well  as  upon  the  elementary 

Effect  of  this  n  ...  11  t>    j.    • 

Reform.  work  given  m  its  own  lower  classes.  But  in 
practice  this  end  has  not  been  attained,  due 
partly,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  to  the  question  of 
modern  language  instruction,  but  chiefly  to  economic  and 
social  causes.  The  former  difficulties  might  easily  be 
avoided  by  a  stroke  of  the  pen,  but  the  latter  are  more  deep 
seated  in  their  nature. 

The  division  into  two  cycles  is  likewise  of  great  signifi- 
cance. It  provides  a  stopping  place  about  the  middle  of 
the  course  which  enables  a  boy  to  catch  his  breath,  so  to 
speak.  Furthermore,  if  for  any  reason  he  leaves  school  at 
the  end  of  that  first  half,  he  takes  away  with  him  a  definite 
unity  of  ideas.  He  need  not  feel  that  he  has  begun  a  piece 
of  work  and  left  it  unfinished.  He  has  met  the  classic 
authors  of  his  own  literature,  he  has  studied  from  one  to 
three  foreign  languages  according  to  the  course  he  has 
chosen,  for  at  least  four  years,  he  has  covered  all  the 
common  arithmetic,  he  has  completed  the  geography  of  the 
world,  he  has  glanced  at  every  period  of  the  world's  history 
from  the  very  beginning  down  to  1889,  and  this  has  in- 
cluded brief  sketches  of  all  the  countries  of  the  civilized 
world  in  modern  times ;  in  a  word'  he  has  touched  practically 
all  the  subjects  of  secondary  school  study.  The  course  is  so 
arranged  that  this  point  forms  a  natural  break,  whereas 
under  the  old  conditions  it  was  admittedly  worked  out  on  at 
least  a  seven-year  basis.  It  had  to  be  carried  all  the  way 
through  or  else  the  time  was  to  a  considerable  degree  ill 
spent.  \Ihe  most  obvious   advantage  of  this  break   in  the 

urse  was  the  opportunity  it  afforded  for  flexibility,  for 
allowing  a  change  of  course  without  loss  of  time,  and  the, 
superior  council  was  keen  enough  to  appreciate  thisy 
Although  other  points  will  appear  when  we  come  to 
study  the  courses  more  in  detail,  this  very  flexibility  is 
the  most  striking  characteristic  of  the  new  program. 


THE  PROGRAM  129 

The  program  of  1902  with  the  modifications  of  1905 
provides  for  a  twelve-year  course  of  study,  one  year  in 
the  infant  class,  two  years  in  the  preparatory  division,  and 
two  years  in  the  elementary  division,  followed  by  the  seven 
years  of  the  secondary  course  properly  speaking.1  The 
program  of  the  infant  class  does  not  form  an  essential  part 
of  the  curriculum  any  more  than  that  of  the  kindergarten  in 
our  own  school  system,  but  it  is  nevertheless  work  of  real 
school  character  resembling  so  far  as  subject  matter  is 
concerned  our  old  first  grade  instruction. 

Beginning  with  the  preparatory  division,  the  week  hours 
per  subject  are  arranged  as  follows : 


WEEKLY  PROGRAM  —  REGULATIONS  OF  1902-1905 
Preparatory  Division 
I  Year  II  Year 

HRS.  HRS. 

French      9       French 7 

Moral  and  civic  instruction 2  Moral  and  civic  instruction  3 

Writing 2\  Modern  languages      ....  2 

Simple  history  stories     ...  1       Writing 2\ 

Geography \\  Simple  history  stories   ...  1 

Arithmetic   .    ." 3       Geography \\ 

Nature  study 1       Arithmetic 3 

Drawing 1       Nature  study 1 

Singing 1       Drawing 1 

Singing 1 

Total 20  Total    . 20 

i  ArrStts,  May  31,  1902,  July  27,  28,  and  Sept.  8,  1905,  Plan  d'etudes  et 
programmes  d'enseignement  dans  Us  lyc6es  et  colleges,  Delalain  Freres,  1907-8, 
pp.  xxiii-xxvi. 

2  This  instruction  will  be  given  in  connection  with  the  instruction  in 
French,  history,  and  geography,  and  is  included  in  the  time  assigned  to  these 
subjects. 

Note:  For  new  program  of  1912,  see  Appendix  N. 


130  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Elementary  Division 

(Eighth  and  seventh  forms)  ___ 

niBii 

French      7 

Moral  and  civic  instruction  * 

Modern  languages 2 

Writing 1 

History  and  geography 3 

Arithmetic 4 

Nature  study 1 

Drawing 1 

Singing 1 

Total 20 

FIRST  CYCLE 

(Length,  four  years;   from  the  sixth  to  the  third  form  inclusive) 

Division  A  Division  B 

Sixth  Form 

HRS.  HRS. 

French 3  French 5 

Latin 7  Writing 1 

Modern  languages 5  Modern  languages      .    .    . .  .  5 

History  and  geography    ...  3  History  and  geography     .    .  3 

Arithmetic 2  Arithmetic 42 

Natural  science 1  Natural  science 2 

Drawing 2  Drawing 2 

Total 23  Total 22 

Fifth  Form 

HRS.  HRS. 

French 3    French 5 

Latin 7    Writing 1 

Modern  languages 5  Modern  languages      ....  5 

History  and  geography    ...  3  History  and  geography     .    .  3 

Arithmetic 2  Mathematics  and  mechanical 

Natural  science -1         drawing 4 

Drawing 2     Natural  science 2 

Drawing 2 

Total 23  Total 22 

1  This  instruction  will  be  given  in  connection  with  the  instruction  in 
French,  history  and  geography,  and  is  included  in  the  time  assigned  to  these 
subjects. 

2  One  hour  for  mechanical  drawing. 


THE  PROGRAM 


131 


Fourth  Form  l 


Ethics 1 

French 3 

Latin 6 

Greek  (optional)  —  3  hrs. 

Modern  languages 5 

History  and  geography    ...  3 

Mathematics      2 

Natural  science 1 

Drawing 2 

Total  .    .     23  +  3  optional 


Ethics      

French 

Modern  languages  .... 
History  and  geography  .  . 
Mathematics,     book-keeping, 

and  mechanical  drawing  . 
Physics  and  chemistry  .  . 
Drawing 2 


HRS. 

1 
5 
5 
3 

5 
2 


Total 


23 


Third  Form " 


Ethics 1 

French 3 

Latin 6 

Greek  (optional)  —  3  hrs. 

Modern  languages 5 

History  and  geography    ...  3 

Mathematics      3 

Drawing 2 


Total  .    .     23  +  3  optional 


HRS. 

Ethics      1 

French 4 

Civil  government  and   com- 
mon law 1 

Modern  languages      ....  5 

History  and  geography     .    .  3 

Mathematics 2 4 

Physics  and  chemistry      .    .  2 

Natural  science 1 

Book-keeping 1 

)2a 

Total 25 


1  The  pupils  who  elect  Greek  are  relieved  of  three  of  the  regular  hours,  two 
of  modern  languages  and  one  of  drawing. 

2  One  optional  hour  of  practical  book-keeping  in  those  schools  where  it  is 
deemed  advisable,  the  decision  being  made  by  the  professors  in  general  meeting. 

3  One  hour  for  mechanical  drawing. 


132  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

SECOND  CYCLE 

(Length,  three  years ;  from  the  second  to  the  philosophy  form) 

Second  Form 


French 

Latin 

Greek      

Modern  history 

Ancient  history 

Geography 

Modern  languages 

Mathematics      

Physics  and  chemistry 

laboratory     .    .    . 

Drawing 

Geology  (12  lectures  of  one  hour,  common 
to  all  the  sections) 

Totals 


h 
$3 


HRS. 

3 

4 
5 
2 
2 

1 


24 


2  1  § 


HRS. 

3 

4 

2 
2 

(42 
23 
1 


24 


OS 
o  w 


HRS. 

3 

4 


26 


O  O  a 

w  =  3 

02.22-2 


HRS. 

3 


27 


1  In  Sections  B  and  D  one  hour  of  special  work  for  the  language  studied  in 
the  first  cycle. 

2  Four  hours  for  the  second  language. 

3  Two  classes  of  one  hour  per  week  during  the  first 

4  Two  hours  for  mechanical  drawing. 


THE  PROGRAM 


133 


First  Form 


Section  A 
Latin-Greek 

Section  B 

Latin-modern 

languages 

• 
§.S 

fly 

e 

O  8  03 

S  c  s 

o 
02 

French 

Latin 

"    extra  hours. 

Greek      

Modern  history 
Ancient  history     . 
Geography     .    .    . 

Modern  languages 

Mathematics 3    .    . 

Physics 

Physics  and  chem- 
istry     

Physics  and  chem- 
istry laboratory 

Drawing     .... 

HRS. 
3 
3 
2 
5 
2 
2 
1 

2 

1  +  2* 
1 

2* 

HRS. 

3 
3 

2* 

2 
2 

(4* 

1  +  2* 

1 

2* 

HRS. 

3 
3 

2 
1 
2 
5 

3 

2 
(2 
(24 

HRS. 

3 
2 

!>■ 

C42 
5 

3 
2 

it. 

Totals     .    .    . 

22  +  4  optional 

20  +  6  optional 

25 

27 

*  Optional. 

1  In  Sections  B  and  D  one  hour  of  special  work  for  the  language  studied  in 
the  first  cycle. 

2  Four  hours  for  the  second  language. 

8  Sections  A  and  B,  two  classes  of  one  hour  per  week  during  the  second 
semester,  plus  two  hours  optional  throughout  the  year. 
4  Two  hours  for  mechanical  drawing. 


134 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 
Philosophy  and  Mathematics  Forms 


Philosophy 

Mathematics 

Section  A 

Section  B 

Section  A 

Section  B 

Philosophy 

Greek-Latin 

Latin 

HRS. 

8£ 
4* 

HRS. 

8* 

2* 

\l 

3§ 
2* 

3 
2 

2* 

HRS. 

3 

2 

8 
5 

2 

2 

24  +  2*6 

HRS. 

3 

Modern  languages     .... 

History  and  geography    .    . 

Mathematics2 

Physics  and  chemistry     .    . 

Natural  sciences 

Physics  and  chemistry,  lab- 
oratory 3 

2* 
3* 

3 
2 

ft 

8 
5 
2 

2 

Drawing 

Hygiene  (12  lectures  of  one 
hour  each)6 

2* 

24+2*fi 

Totals 

in+8* 

22£  +  4* 

27^  +  2* 

28^+2* 

Save  for  singing,  the  subjects  of  instruction  in  the  infant 
class  are  exactly  the  same  as  those  in  the  first  year  of  the 
preparatory   division.      Boys    enter   here   nor- 
ProgranT      maUy  at  six  years  of  age,  though  one  some- 
times finds  little  fellows  one  or  even  two  years 
younger.     In  all  the  lycees  where  an  infant  class  is  found,  it 
is  invariably  taught  by  a  woman. 

*  Optional. 

1  The  pupils  have  the  right  to  select  for  themselves  the  distribution  of 
these  two  hours. 

2  Mathematics,  two  hours  ;  cosmography,  one  hour  during  one  semester. 

*  Five  or  six  of  these  periods  are  reserved  for  experimental  work  in  natural 
science.  This  laboratory  work  will  likewise  be  required  of  the  Philosophy 
pupils  in  both  sections. 

4  Two  hours  for  mechanical  drawing. 

6  Freehand  drawing  is  optional. 

6  These  lectures  are  included  in  the  natural  science  instruction  for  both  sec- 
tions of  the  Mathematics  Form,  and  for  all  four  sections  when  the  Philosophy 
and  the  Mathematics  Forms  have  their  science  work  in  common.  When  the 
Philosophy  and  Mathematics  Forms  are  not  taught  together,  the  work  in  hy- 
giene is  given  outside  the  natural  science  instruction  for  the  Philosophy  Form. 


THE  PROGRAM  135 

The  same  is  often  true  of  the  first  year  of  the  preparatory 
division.  It  is  exactly  the  same  here  as  in  the  primary 
school  system,  men  teachers  for  boys'  schools 
and  women  teachers  for  girls'  schools.  In  the 
primary  system  there  are  some  evidences  of  a  slight  weaken- 
ing of  this  old  established  notion,  but  the  tradition  shows  no 
sign  of  breaking  in  the  secondary  schools. 

Mfirlp™  LangHggg  study  begins  in  the  second  year  of  the 
preparatpxy  division.  Theoretically  the  pupil  may  choose 
from  English,  German,  Italian,  and  Spanish, 
but  practically  this  choice  is  narrowed  to  Eng-  Modern 
lish  or  German,  with  the  chances  in  favor  of  Language 
the  latter.  The  instruction  below  the  sixth  form  eac  ing* 
is  usually  given  by  the  regular  class  teacher,  and  it  is  rather 
rare  to  find  one  of  these  men  that  can  teach  English.  The  jfj^ 
fact  that  formerly  German  was  required  in  the  secondary 
schools  even  now  tends  to  perpetuate  that  language,  though 
of  late  years  the  English  has  been  gaining  relatively.  Now- 
adays, in  the  Paris  lyc^es,  the  pupil  may  begin  either  English 
or  German  in  the  ninth  form,  but  in  the  provincial  schools  it 
is  comparatively  rare  that  he  can  make  this  choice  thus  early. 
This  modern  language  work  in  these  lower  classes  is  not  of 
very  serious  moment.  The  administration  is  not  heartily  in 
sympathy  with  it,  for  if  it  is  rigorously  taught  it  will  inter- 
fere seriously  with  the  plan  of  co-ordinating  the  sixth  form 
with  the  work  of  the  primary  system,  the  lower  schools  of 
that  system  having  no  modern  language  instruction.  At  the 
time  of  the  revision  in  1 902,  this  modern  language  work  was 
left  in  these  lower  grades  as  a  kind  of  concession  to  the  parents, 
who  perhaps  disliked  seeing  the  elementary  classes  of  the  col- 
leges and  lyc£es  too  much  like  the  classes  of  the  free  primary 
school  system.  Hence  the  modern  language  teacher  in  the 
sixth  form  is  compelled  to  go  back  to  the  very  beginning  in 
his  instruction.  The  poor  grading  of  this  class  renders  his 
task  extremely  difficult. 

One  of  the  most  important  reforms  in  the  new  program 
was  the  increase^in  the  amount  of  modern  language  instruc- 


136  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

tion  in  division  A  of  the  first  cycle.  In  the  old  classical 
course,  it  amounted  to  ten  hours  for  the  four  years,  whereas 
it  is  now  sixteen  for  those  that  elect  (rrcekT  and  twentyfor 
frhngp.  t-hat  do  not.  The  total  hours  of  modern  language  in- 
struction for  all  Latin  pupils  has  been  increased  from  sixteen 
under  the  old  program  to  from  twenty-two  to  thirty-seven, 
according  to  the  course  or  combination  of  courses  pursued. 
Furthermore  there  has  been  a  radical  change  in  the  method 
of  instruction. 

The  science  work  has  also  been  somewhat  strengthened 
on  the  whole.     In  jnathejmatics,  the  net  change  is  practically 

null,  for  what  has  been  gained  in  the  science 

course  has  been  lost  in  the  classical  course. 
The  natural  sciences  have  gained  a  few  hours,  particularly 
in  division  B.  This  addition  has  been  chiefly  in  physiology 
and  hygiene,  and  serves  to  round  off  the  course  of  the  boys 
who  are  likely  to  leave  at  the  end  of  the  first  cycle  by  giving 
them  some  very  definite  and  practical  ideas  of  the  care  of  the 
person.  In  physics  and  chemistry,  the  instruction  has  been 
expanded  over  more  years,  especially  in  the  second  cycle,  and 
laboratory  work  has  been  more  than  doubled  both  in  sub- 
jects and  in  hours.  Unfortunately  it  is  restricted  to  the  two 
science  sections  from  the  second  form  upward,  but  instead  of 
a  few  hours  for  chemistry,  it  now  embraces  physics  and  natu- 
ral science  as  well,  and  has  two  hours  per  week  during  the 
last  three  years  of  the  course. 

The  time  devoted  to  history  and  geography  has  been  in- 
creased, particularly  in  the  A  division  of  the  first  cycle,  but 

this  has  been  due  entirely  to  increases  in  the 
Geography      former  subject.    As  a  matter  of  fact  geography 

has  lost  a  half  hour  in  the  classical  course. 
The  most  striking  modification  in  history  has  been  the  re- 
arrangement of  the  course  whereby  Greek  and  Eoman_his- 
tory  have  been  moved  from  the  second  cycle  to,  thp.  fir^t 
This  change  makes  it  possible  to  complete  the  history  of 
France  by  the  end  of  the  third  form,  and  gives  those  pupils 
that  leave  at  that  time  a  complete,  though  necessarily  super- 


THE  PROGRAM  137 

ficial  notion  of  the  march  of  history  down  to  the  present 
generation. 

In   the  old  program,  French f  Latin,  and  Greek  were  all 
grouped  together  under  one  head.     This  was  perfectly  natu- 
ral, for  in  a  given  form  they  were  all  taught,  as 
they  are  still,  bjj,jHngle_teaoher.     The  total  ^Hf1^^ 
number  of  hours  has ^fallen  off  only  two  in  the 
new  program  as  contrasted  with  the  old.     The  slight  loss 
in  Latin  and  Greek  has  been  almost  offset  by  a  small  gain  in 
French.    In  the  course  without  Latin  the  time  devoted  to  in- 
struction in  the  mother  tongue  remains  practically  the  same. 

In  each  division  of  the  fourth  and  third  forms  one  hour 
a  week  is  devoted  to  ethical  instruction.     This  is  an  en- 
tirely new  departure,  introduced  for  the  sake 
of  those  boys  that  may  drop  out  at  the  com-    philosophy, 
pletion  of  the  first  cycle.     It  is  naturally  de- 
signed to  play  the  same  part  in  the  first  cycle  that  the  phil- 
osophy instruction  does  in  the  second  cycle.     It  needs  but  a 
glance  at  the  detailed  program   to   show  how  imperfectly 
their  task  is  accomplished.     This  elementary  instruction  is 
very  similar  to  the  corresponding  instruction  in  the  primary 
school  system,  which  savors  too  much  of  the  reward  and 
punishment  idea.      The  efficacy  of  this  instruction  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful.     The  philosophy  of  the  philosophy  form, 
which  includes  psychology,  esthetics,  logic,  ethics,  and  meta- 
physics, is  practically  unchanged  from  the  old  program. 

In  looking  at  the  program  as  a  whole,  one  is  struck  with 
the  marked  increase  in  the  number  of  week  hours.     Not  a 
single  class  in  the  entire  secondary  school  sys- 
tem escaped  the  added  burden,  and  this,  too,    Overcharged 

r  '  '         '       Programs. 

in  spite  of  the  hue  and  cry  that  is  everywhere 
rising  against  the  heavy  loads  that  school  children  have  to 
bear.  Whereas  the  old  program  carried  ordinarily  twenty 
hours  of  school  work  per  week,  under  the  new  program  the 
average  has  been  raised  n parly  fo^r  Timjra,  and  in  some  of 
the  science  sections  this  is  increased  to  twenty-seven  and 
twenty-eighthours.     It  seems  almost  incredible  that  in  sev- 


138  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

eral  of  the  higher  classes  beyond  the  baccalaureate  where 
the  boys  are  preparing  for  the  government  engineering 
schools  even  this  latter  figure  is  raised  by  ten  hours.  The 
wonder  is  that  the  boys  do  not  break  down  under  the  strain, 
especially  when  one  considers  the  restricted  life  that  they 
are  compelled  to  lead,  with  practically  none  of  that  free  out- 
door exercise  that  forms  the  safeguard  of  the  English  and 
American  boys.  I  am  told  that  examiners  for  the  baccalau- 
reate are  already  seeing  the  effects  of  these  over-weighted 
programs  in  the  mental  condition  of  the  candidates  that 
appear  before  them. 

Eeference  to  the  detailed  programs  will  show  that  at 
several  points  in  the  school  period  certain  optional  courses  are 
Flexibility  in  0^ere(^  the  pupils.  The  old  program  was  so 
the  Pro-  inflexible  that  once  a  given  line  was  started  it 
gram-  was  almost  impossible  to  change  without  great 
waste  of  time.  *>The  new  program  is  yirmanfllly  ffcxiMp.  a^ 
offers  numerous  opportunities  for  a  change  of  course  as  a 
boy's  inclinations  are  modified  or  his  tendencies  are  devel- 
oped^ The  elementary  years  of  the  secondary  school  present 
no  difficulty.  The  course  is  the  same  for  all  for  the  first  five 
years.  When  the  sixth  form  is  reached  and  the  secondary 
course,  properly  speaking,  is  begun,  the  parents  have  to  decide 
the  first  question,  whether  or  not  their  child  is  to  study  Latin. 
At  that  time  the  boy  is  only  ten  or  eleven  years  old,  and  the 
choice  is  not  always  an  easy  one.  If  Latin  is  not  chosen,  the 
parent's  subsequent  task  is  considerably  simplified.  Save  for 
a  rather  restricted  option  in  the  modern  language  work,  his 

_ course  is  practically  determined  for  him.      In  the  second 

cycle  he  follows  the  science-modern  language  group  and 
takes  his  baccalaureate  in  mathemaJtiCjS>  On  the  other  hand, 
if  there  is  any  serious  doubt  in  the  parent's  mind,  he  ordi- 
narily elects  Latin,  for  more  options  spread  out  before  the 
boy  and  he  is  more  likely  to  find  congenial  subjects.  In  the 
fourth  form  the  Latin  student  has  the  opportunity  of  electing 
Gr^ek.  In  case  the  latter  is  chosen,  the  natural  course  would 
be  to  keep  on  with  the  classical  studies  in  the  Latin-Greek 


THE  PROGRAM 


139  f 


group  of  the  second  cycle  and  to  reach  the  baccalaureate 
through  the  philosophy  section.     Such,  however,  is  the  flexi- 
bility of  this  program  that  if  the  boy  is  dissatisfied  with\ 
Greek  after  two  years'  trial  he  may  drop  it  entirely  and  \ 
change  into  any  one  of  the  other  three  sections  of  the  second  J 
cycle.     The  Latin  student  who  has  not  chosen  Greek  falls  / 
naturally  into  the  Latin-modern  language  or  the  Latin-science  / 
section  in  the  second  cycle,  although  the  science-modern  lanV 
guage  section  is  likewise  open  to  him. 

At  the  completion  of  the  first  form  the  pupils  come  up  for 
the  first  part  of  the  baccalaureate  examination,  which  is  based 
upon  the  work  they  have  had  in  the  second  cycle  up  to  that 
point.  Then  there  comes  a  final  choice,  although  the  normal 
progress  is  to  pass  from  the  first  form  A  or  B  to  philosophy 
A  or  B,  and  from  the  first  form  C  or  D  to  mathematics  A  or 
B.  Nevertheless  it  is  quite  possible  for  some  pupils  that 
have  passed  the  first  part  of  their  baccalaureate  in  one  group 
to  come  up  for  the  second  in  the  other  group,  assuming,  of 
course,  that  they  have  made  their  choice  at  the  end  of  the 
first  form.  It  seems  a  little  peculiar  that  the  science-modern 
language  pupil  has  the  widest  choice  of  courses  at  this  point. 
The  four  optional  courses  are  practically  narrowed  down  to 
two,  for  there  are  only  two  divisions  in  the  second  part  of 
the  baccalaureate,  and  the  examination  is  limited  to  the  re- 


T.A 


Ordinary  passage. 
Possible  passage. 
Possible  passage  if  pupil  knows  a 

second  modern  language. 
Passage  ordinarily  impossible. 


Math. 


l.B 


•Phil.B 


I.D  1.0 

quired  subjects  of  the  philosophy-mathematics  form.  The 
accompanying  figure *  will  show  more  clearly  the  possibilities 
at  the  end  of  the  first  form. 

1  Annuaire  de  la,  jeunesse,  1907,  ]>.  202. 


140  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

For  the  ordinary  walks  of  business,  for  those  looking  for- 
ward to  agricultural  pursuits  and  the  less  important  admin- 
istrative positions,  division  fi  a.^rl  its  natural 
therCoursel  j^ccessor  the  science-mode£n_ language  work 
p.p.rtflin1y  givpa  thjftj^f^^jnirig  On  the~other 
hand,  the  classical  course  is  intended  for  those  that  expect  to 
teach  along  the  arts  subjects,  to  enter  upon  a  literary  career, 
or  to  take  up  the  law.  The  combination  division  A-section 
B  appeals  to  those  looking  forward  to  the  diplomatic  service, 
and  division  A-section  C  prepares  for  the  military  and  naval 
schools.  Not  all  the  four  sections  in  the  second  cycle  are  to 
be  found  in  every  lyce'e,  much  less  in  every  secondary  school. 
Manifestly  where  the  school  population  is  small  the  authori- 
ties are  compelled  to  make  more  or  less  arbitrary  choice,  but 
practically  all  of  the  big  city  lyce*es  have  complete  courses. 
However  much  the  new  program  has  been  criticized,  and  its 
opponents  are  not  few,  it  is  decidedly  more  flexible  than  the 
old,  it  goes  farther  toward  offering  a  liberal  education,  it  re- 
sponds better  to  the  demands  of  the  time,  it  is  France's 
contribution  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  of  secondary 
education. 

In  order  to  be  promoted  from  one  grade  to  another,  every 
pupil  must  demonstrate  his  ability  to  profit  by  the  instruc- 
tion in  the  higher  class.  Toward  the  end  of 
Ew!m^atk>ns  ^e  school  year  each  teacher  prepares  a  rank 
list  of  his  pupils  for  each  subject.  The  grad- 
ing is  all  made  up  on  a  scale  of  twenty,  and  a  mark  of  ten 
or  better  in  any  subject  excuses  the  pupil  from  examination 
in  that  subject.  This  puts  a  premium  on  faithful  conscien- 
tious work  throughout  the  year,  and  relieves  the  good 
student  of  the  annoyance  and  worry  of  promotion  examina- 
tions. The  others  that  have  failed  to  attain  this  fifty 
per  cent  standard  are  compelled  to  submit  to  a  series  of 
examinations.  |  At  the  completion  of  this  test,  the  pupils  are 
divided  into  three  groups:  (1)  those  that  passed;  (2)  those 
that  failed  but  are  to  be  granted  a  re-examination  in  the  fall ; 
and  (3)  those  that  proved  conclusively  that  they  were  not 


THE  PROGRAM  141 

fitted  to  pass  into  the  higher  class.  If  a  re-examination  is 
allowed,  the  pupil  is  admitted  temporarily  into  the  upper 
class  in  the  fall  pending  the  final  decision.  If  he  fails 
again,  there  is  nothing  to  do  but  to  repeat  the  previous  year's 
woik.  The  decision  in  every  case  is  made  by  the  head  of 
the  school  after  conference  with  the  teachers  concerned.  It 
is  interesting  to  note  that  the  teacher  of  the  class  into  which 
the  pupil  would  be  promoted  is  ordinarily  a  member  of  the 
jury.  Some  of  the  teachers  object  to  the  leniency  shown  in 
these  promotion  examinations  and  complain  that  they  are 
consequently  compelled  to  carry  along  pupils  that  are  mani- 
festly unfitted  for  the  work. 

There  is  undoubtedly  considerable  foundation  for  this 
complaint,  for  the  head  of  a  school  will  put  himself  and  his 
teachers,  to  say  nothing  of  the  other  pupils,  to  no  end  of 
inconvenience  in  order  to  avoid  losing  a  pupil  solely  on 
account  of  deficiency  of  mental  qualifications.  He  guards 
his  pupils  almost  as  jealously  as  though  he  were  conducting 
a  private  school.  Loss  of  pupils  means  a  larger  deficit  at 
the  end  of  the  year  and  consequent  poor  standing  with  the 
superior  officials,  so  the  head  masters  and  principals  are  very 
chary  about  refusing  to  promote  pupils  whose  parents  threaten 
to  remove  them  from  the  school.  It  is  really  a  serious 
matter  with  the  school,  for  the  state  and  the  local  budgets 
are  made  up  after  due  consideration  of  the  previous  re- 
ceipts. Inasmuch  as  the  running  expenses  do  not  vary 
regularly  with  the  number  of  pupils,  a  falling  off  in  the 
receipts  may  lead  to  grave  inconvenience,  for  there  is  not  a 
single  boys'  public  secondary  school  in  France  whose  ordinary 
receipts  pay  its  running  expenses.  This  perhaps  natural 
attitude  of  the  heads  of  the  schools  necessarily  cannot  fail  to 
have  a  deleterious  reaction  upon  the  schools.  However  this 
may  be,  the  unworthy  fellows  are  sure  to  be  weeded  out  by 
the  baccalaureate,  for  no  financial  questions  enter  into  con- 
sideration here. 

The  baccalaureate  marks  the  end  of  the  course  at  the 
lyce*e  or  college.     It  is,  therefore,  purely  a  degree  of  sec- 


142  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

ondary  education,  and  in  this  respect  differs  widely  from  our 
corresponding  degrees.  The  question  immediately  arises 
then  as  to  the  relative  worth  of  the  two  de- 
grees,  and  this  is  somewhat  difficult  to  deter- 
mine. There  is  one  satisfaction  about  the  French  degree :  ifr 
stands  for  a  very  definite  standard  of  fltifp1'r>rr,<:>r>f.-  Aside  from 
the  personal  equation  involved,  the  degree  from  the  south  is 
in  every  way  equal  to  that  from  the  north,  while  it  is  per- 
fectly well  known  that  there  is  wide  divergence  among 
the  bachelors'  degrees  from  the  American  institutions.  The 
French  secondary  course  carries  the  pupil  to  a  point  that 
is  reached  by  the  American  boy  at  our  best  colleges  some- 
where in  the  course  of  his  sophomore  year,  but  in  France 
this  goal  is  attained  from  two  to  three  years  earlier.  On 
the  other  hand,  although  the  French  youth  possesses  a 
more  definite  and  a  more  exact  array  of  information,  the 
greater  part  of  his  thinking  has  been  done  for  him.  As  I 
have  visited  scores  of  classes  in  the  lyc^es  and  colleges,  this 
fact  has  been  most  forcibly  brought  to  my  attention.  The 
mind  of  the  French  student  is  receptive  rather  than  creative 
or  even  independent.  It  is  not  until  after  the  completion  of 
the  secondary  course  that  the  latter  characteristics  begin 
to  come  to  the  fore.  They  evolve  in  spite  of  the  method 
of  the  educational  system  rather  than  on  account  of  it. 
This  is  the  heritage  that  Loyola  and  his  followers  have 
left,  and  their  influence  is  still  strong  upon  the  French 
character,  far  stronger  than  the  ardent  republican  of  to-day 
would  have  you  believe,  or  would  willingly  admit  even  to 
himself.  In  its  outward  characteristics,  the  French  second- 
ary school  system  bears  evidence  of  Napoleon's  master  hand, 
but  deep  down  beneath  the  surface  the  methods  of  work 
and  the  fundamental  ideals  still  reveal  the  impress  that 
Jesuit  control  imposed  upon  them. 

The  baccalaureate  examination  is  held  under  the  direqt 
control  of  the  .Minister  of  Public  Instruction.  He  appoints 
a  special  examining  board  ofjonr,  five,  or  siv  ^^rnViPrs, 
according  to  the  subjects  of  the  examination,  divided  evenly 


THE  PROGRAM  143 

in  the  first  and  last  cases  between  members  of  superior  and 
secondary  education,  and  in  the  second  case  with  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  lower  order  in  the  majority.  There  are 
two  sessions  each  year,  one  at  the  end  of  one  school  year 
and  the  second  at  the  beginning  of  the  next,  held  in  each  of 
the  fifteen  university  centers  where  there  are  faculties  of 
arts  and  sciences,  and  at  Alger  in  Africa.  The  ordinary 
minimum  age  is  sixteen  years,  though  in  exceptional  cases, 
the  Minister  may  diminish  that  by  a  year.  The  examina- 
tion is  divided  into  two  parts,  and  there  must  be  an  interval 
of  at  least  a  school  year  between  them.  The  first  part  comes 
at  the  end  of  the  first  form,  and  covers  the  subjects  of  in- 
struction during  the  first  two  years  of  the  second  cycle. 
The  second  part  comes  at  the  close  of  the  philosophy-mathe- 
matics form  and  covers  merely  the  subjects  of  instruction  of 
that  form.  In  each  case  the  examination  is  partly  written 
and  partly  oral.  The  student  must  pass  the  written  ex- 
amination before  being  admitted  to  the  oral  part  which 
succeeds. 

At  the  time  of  registering  for  the  examination,  the 
candidate  indicates  which  section  he  is  coming  under, 
(jLatin-Greek,  Latin-modern  languages,  Latin-science,  or 
science-modern  languages.  ^  The  subjects  of  the  baccalau- 
reate examinations  together  with  the  weight  attached  to 
each  one  will  be  found  in  the  table  on  the  following  page. 

Three  hours  are  allowed  for  each  of  the  written  examina- 
tions in  the  first  part,  except  for  those  in  mathematics  and 
physics.  Here  the  time  is  four  hours.  The  mathematics 
section  written  examinations  are  each  three  hours  in  length, 
while  those  in  the  philosophy  section  are  four  hours  for  the 
philosophical  dissertation  and  two  hours  for  the  science  exam- 
ination. This  latter  includes  physics,  chemistry,  and  natural 
science.  The  oral  examinations  are  all  open  to  the  public. 
Each  candidate  is  kept  on  the  rack  three  quarters  of  an 
hour,  and  he  has  no  easy  task  in  facing  an  inquisitorial  body 
of  four,  five,  or  six  august  professors  who  take  turns  in  ques- 
tioning him  on  the  eight  or  nine  subjects  of  the  examination. 


144 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


SUBJECTS  OF  THE  BACCALAUREATE  EXAMINATIONS 
WITH   COEFFICIENTS  OF  EACH1 


Part  I 


Subjects 


Written 

French2    .    .    .    . 

Latin 

Greek 

Modern  lan- 
guages 3    .    .    . 

Mathematics  and 
physics     .    .    . 


3  2 


HRS. 

2 
2 
2 


Oral 

Greek  .... 
Latin  .... 
French  .  .  . 
Modern  lan- 
guages .  .  . 
Ancient  history- 
Modern  history 
Geography  .  . 
Mathematics  . 
Physics  .... 
Chemistry     .    . 


Totals   . 


15 


14 


20 


HRS 
2 


19 


Part  II 


Subjects 


Written 
Philosophy2    .    . 

Science  2 

Mathematics 2     .    . 
Physics  and  chem- 
istry2 .    .    .    . 


Oral 

Philosophy      .    .    . 

Philos.  authors  .    . 

Contemporary  hist. 

Geography      .    .    . 

Physics  and  chem- 
istry     

Natural  science 
and  hygiene  .    . 

Mathematics      .    . 

Physics,  chemistry, 
and  cosmography 


Totals 


HRS 

2 

1 


11 


HRS. 

1 

2 
2 


15 


1  Programme  des  examens  du  baccalauriat  de  V enseignement  secondaire, 
Bull,  adm.,  1902,  I.,  pp.  705-719  ;  1909,  II.,  pp.  337-343. 

a  Three  subjects  are  given.     The  candidate  may  select  any  one. 

8  The  paper  must  he  written  in  the  foreign  language.  The  use  of  a  dic- 
tionary entirely  in  the  foreign  language  is  permitted. 

4  Each  of  the  two  languages  in  these  sections  has  a  coefficient  of  1.  One 
of  these  languages  is  necessarily  English  or  German,  the  other  being  chosen 
from  English,  German,  Italian,  Spanish,  or  Russian.  In  Algeria,  Arabic  may 
be  substituted  for  either  of  the  modern  languages  required  above.  In  fact,  ac- 
cording to  a  decree  of  May  5,  1904,  spoken  and  written  Arabic  may  take  the 
place  of  two  separate  modern  languages  at  the  oral  examination.  In  this  case, 
the  test  will  be  considerably  less  elementary  than  if  two  languages  are  offered. 


THE  PROGRAM  145 

A  boy  must  have  his  information  pretty  well  in  hand  in 
order  to  come  through  unscathed.  Each  examination  is 
marked  upon  a  scale  of  twenty,  and  fifty  per  cent  of  the 
total  points  are  required  for  passing.  In  case  of  failure  at 
the  oral  examination  the  certificate  of  passage  of  the  first 
part  is  valid  for  the  two  following  sessions,  that  is,  for  a 
year  from  its  date  of  issue.  The  mortality  at  the  two  parts 
of  the  examination  is  rather  heavy,  for  only  about  one  half 
come  through  safely.  In  July,  1907,  of  the  20,885  candi- 
dates that  presented  themselves  for  both  parts  of  the  bacca- 
laureate, 10,048  were  successful.1  The  fees  for  each  part  of 
the  examination  are  forty  francs,  with  ten  francs  additional 
for  the  certificate  that  indicates  successful  passage,  and  forty 
francs  for  the  diploma.  Thus  the  total  cost  to  the  candidate 
amounts  to  one  hundred  and  forty  francs,  by  no  means  a 
small  sum  of  money  to  pay  for  the  ordinary  bachelor's 
degree. 

From  first  to  last  this  is  entirely  a  state  examination, 
neither  the  secondary  schools  nor  the  universities  as  such 
having  any  part  in  its  conduct.  The  examiners  are  ap- 
pointed by  the  Minister,  and  the  diplomas  are  conferred  by 
the  Minister.  He  may  even  send  out  the  texts  and  the  sub- 
jects for  the  written  examinations,  but  in  ordinary  practice 
these  are  chosen  by  the  deans  of  the  faculties  of  letters  and 
science. 

The  examination  for  the  baccalaureate  is  thus  seen  to  be 
considerably  morft  fljffignlt  to  pass  than  any  of  the  similar 
examinations  in  America,  in  the  first  place  by  reason  of  the 
oral  character  of  the  more  important  parts  of  it,  and  in  the 
second  place  because  of  the  large  number  of  subjects  that 
must  be  kept  clearly  in  mind.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
fact  that  eight  or  nine  subjects  must  be  covered  in  forty- 
five  minutes  necessarily  reduces  it  to  a  decidedly  mnemonic 
test,  and  consequently  the  burden  is  somewhat  lightened. 
At  all  events  the  young  man  that  gains  the  approval  of  the 
jury  certainly  deserves  the  degree. 

1  L  'tcho  de  Paris,  Jan.  16,  1908. 
10 


146 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


The  accompanying  table  shows  the  final  results  of  the  bac- 
calaureate examinations  for  the  last  six  years. 

RESULTS  OF  BACCALAUREATE  EXAMINATIONS,  1902-1908 


Failed 

Year 

Candidates 

Passed 

Per  cent 

passed 

Written 

Oral 

1902 

13251 

4783 

1723 

6745 

51 

1903 

13330 

4779 

1720 

6831 

51 

1904 

15193 

5145 

1980 

8068 

53 

1905 

12991 

4090 

1572 

7329 

56 

1906 

12007 

3721 

1293 

6993 

58 

1907 

11924 

3692 

1297 

6935 

58 

1908 

13374 

4816 

1418 

6940 

52 

Since  1905,  the  new  regulations  of  the  program  of  1902 
have  been  in  force.  In  that  year  the  majority  of  the  candi- 
dates presented  themselves  under  the  old  conditions.  Since 
then  there  has  naturally  been  a  rapid  falling  off,  so  that  in 
1908,  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  came  under  this  caption, 
and  next  year  there  will  be  practically  none.  The  sudden 
diminution  in  the  number  of  candidates  between  the  years 
1904  and  1905  is  probably  due  to  the  opportunity  afforded  by 
the  new  programs  to  break  the  secondary  school  course  at 
the  end  of  the  third  form  and  to  leave  the  school  with  the 
reasonably  complete  notions  given  by  the  work  of  the  first 
cycle.  The  total  number  of  secondary  school  students  cer- 
tainly shows  no  such  corresponding  decrease  at  this  point. 
As  a  matter  of  fact  the  public  secondary  school  population 
has  been  slowly  increasing  throughout  this  period.  The 
number  of  pupils  leaving  at  the  end  of  the  first  cycle  is  sub- 
ject to  wide  variation.  In  the  Paris  lycdes  it  is  comparatively 
small,  while  in  some  of  the  provincial  schools  it  frequently 
amounts  to  more  than  fifty  per  cent.  Various  causes  are 
responsible  for  this  :  the  changes  of  domicile  and  financial 
conditions  of  the  parents ;  the  desire  to  have  the  young  man 


THE  PROGRAM  147 

take  up  the  business  of  the  father ;  the  realization  that  the 
son  is  not  likely  to  survive  the  severe  competitive  examina- 
tions he  must  pass  in  order  to  be  admitted  into  any  of  the 
higher  government  schools  (save  the  various  university  facul- 
ties). Although  the  noticeable  increase  in  the  per  cent  of 
successful  candidates  would  appear  to  lend  considerable  color 
to  this  interpretation,  the  mortality  even  now  seems  very 
severe.  The  great  majority  of  the  unsuccessful  keep  coming 
back  until  they  are  finally  successful  or  until  they  have 
reached  the  age  limit  that  precludes  their  entering  the  par- 
ticular state  school  they  had  in  mind.  Then  they  drift  off 
into  some  department  of  the  government  service  where  the 
possession  of  the  baccalaureate  is  not  indispensable. 

Besides  the  regular  program  of  instruction  already  out- 
lined, there  are  several  series  of  courses  especially  designed 
to  prepare  for  the  higher  government  schools.  fl  .  . 
The  most  important  of  these  schools  are  the  Preparatory 
Polytechnic.  School  and  Saint-flyr,  both  under  Forms- 
the  control  of  the  War  Department,  the  former  an  engineer- 
ing school  that  fits  for  both  civil  and  military  careers,  and 
the  latter  a  military  school  that  corresponds  to  our  own  West 
Point;  the  Central  School  of  Arts  and  Manufactures,  an 
engineering  school  for  all  departments  of  industry  and  public 
works  that  do  not  belong  exclusively  to  the  State  ;  the  Naval 
School  in  the  harbor  of  Brest,  corresponding  to  the  naval 
academy  at  Annapolis ;  and  the  Higher  Normal  School,  oftener 
known  simply  as  The  Normal  School,  under  the  direction 
of  the  Department  of  Public  Instruction.  This  latter  is  the 
training  school  for  university  teachers  and  for  secondary 
teachers  of  boys'  schools.  It  has  two  sections,  one  for  letters 
and  the  other  for  science.  The  candidates  for  the  latter 
together  with  those  for  the  Polytechnic  School  are  enrolled 
in  a  class  called  the  special  mathematics  form.  The  back- 
bone of  this  course  is  naturally  mathematics,  and  it  includes 
advanced  algebra,  trigonometry,  plane  and  solid  analytic 
geometry,  descriptive  geometry,  and  mechanics,  besides  ad- 
vanced work    in  physics  and   chemistry.     The   preparatory 


148  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

courses  for  the  Central  School,  Saint-Cyr,  and  for  the  Naval 
School  likewise  include  considerable  mathematics,  but  they 
are  not  so  severe  as  the  special  mathematics  form.  The 
preparation  for  the  letters  section  of  the  Normal  School  is 
given  in  a  class  known  as  the  upper  first  form.  There  is 
no  published  program  of  instruction  for  this  form.  The 
classes  are  conducted  by  some  of  the  ablest  teachers  of  liter- 
ary subjects  to  be  found  in  the  country.  They  know  that 
their  pupils  have  to  face  a  very  keen  competitive  examina- 
tion at  the  end  of  the  year  and  they  choose  that  work  from 
the  program  in  the  upper  forms  of  the  secondary  course 
that  will  best  fit  for  this  ordeal.  These  advanced  courses 
are  by  no  means  found  in  every  secondary  school,  nor  even 
in  every  lycde.  Out  of  the  eleven  lycees  of  Paris  that  have 
upper  grade  classes,  seven  prepare  for  the  Polytechnic  School 
and  the  science  section  of  the  Normal  School,  five  for  the 
Central  School,  seven  for  Saint-Cyr,  two  for  the  Naval 
School,  and  six  for  the  letters  section  of  the  Normal  School. 
For  the  first  five  of  these  schools,  the  successful  candidates 
are  ordinarily  fairly  well  distributed  over  the  country,  but 
for  the  last,  the  Normal  School  (letters),  it  is  practically 
necessary  for  the  student  to  come  to  Paris  to  study.  In  1905, 
out  of  the  thirty-two  intrants,  twenty-nine  of  them  came 
from  the  lycees  and  the  University  of  Paris.1  For  both 
sections  of  the  Normal  School,  the  work  in  these  preparatory 
classes  is  really  of  university  grade,  for  all  these  fellows 
already  have  the  bachelor's  degree  and  some  have  the 
master's.  In  fact,  university  students  compete  on  equal 
footing  with  these  advanced  secondary  students.  The  stand- 
ard for  the  Polytechnic  and  Saint-Cyr  is  slightly  inferior,  for 
here  the  baccalaureate  is  not  absolutely  required  for  entrance. 
Save  for  a  few  peculiar  cases,  the  certificate  of  the  first  part 
of  the  baccalaureate  is  compulsory,  and  the  possession  of  the 
full  degree  gives  a  handicap  of  from  fifteen  to  sixty  points. 
The  result  is  that  entrance  to  these  schools  is  practically  on 
a  baccalaureate  basis. 

1  Annuaire  de  la  jeunesse,  1907,  p.  924. 


THE  PROGRAM  149 

The  admission  to  all  these  schools  is  solely  by  competitive 
examination,  as  is  universally  the  case  in  France  in  govern- 
ment appointments.  If  a  candidate  is  unsuccessful  one  year,  he 
usually  keeps  trying  until  he  succeeds  or  else  is  barred  out  by 
the  age  limit.  It  often  happens  that  many  of  the  candidates 
for  these  higher  institutions  spend  two  and  sometimes  even 
three  years  in  this  secondary  graduate  work.  In  visiting 
these  upper  classes,  one  cannot  help  feeling  that  the  compet- 
itive examination  at  the  end  of  the  year  hangs  over  the  class 
like  the  sword  of  Damocles.  It  absolutely  determines  the 
choice  of  subject  matter  as  well  as  the  character  of  the  in- 
struction and  makes  the  work  more  of  a  cramming  process 
than  a  culture  course.  One  very  able  teacher  told  me  that 
the  method  he  followed  in  preparing  his  class  in  history  for 
Saint-Cyr  was  much  different  from  that  that  he  used  in  his 
other  classes.  He  frankly  admitted  that  there  was  less 
attempt  to  develop  the  minds  of  his  pupils  than  to  fill  them 
with  information  by  way  of  preparation  for  the  examination. 
Now  that  the  great  general  prize  competition  (le  concours 
general)  has  been  abolished,1  the  renown  of  a  school  is 
measured  largely  in  terms  of  the  success  of  its  pupils  in 
these  competitive  examinations.  In  the  general  entrance 
halls  of  the  lyc^es  it  is  not  unusual  to  find  tablets  contain- 
ing the  names  of  former  pupils  that  have  thus  reflected  credit 
upon  their  school.  Intellectual  attainment  in  France  com- 
mands a  higher  premium  than  athletic  skill. 

1  Abolished  since  1904. 


CHAPTEK  VIII 

THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE 

It  is  almost  a  truism  now  to  say  that  the  early  secondary 
schools  on  the  continent  were  established  as  clerical  training 
The  Paris  schools.  Two  of  those  in  Paris  that  claim  such 
Secondary  a  foundation  to-day  run  far  back  in  history; 
Schools.  Qne^  ^e  present  Lyc6e  Saint-Louis,  was  the 
ancient  College  d'Harcourt,  which  dates  from  1280,  and 
the  other,  the  Lyc^e  Louis-le-Grand,  was  the  original  Jesuit 
college  in  Paris,  founded  in  1564-65.  Although  Saint-Louis 
was  interrupted  during  the  period  between  the  time  of  the 
Convention  and  1820,  Louis-le-Grand  has  had  practically  a 
continuous  existence  ever  since  its  foundation,  and  is  conse- 
quently rich  in  famous  students  and  in  traditions.  Both 
these  schools  are  essentially  upper  form  institutions,  for  the 
lowest  class  at  Louis-le-Grand  is  the  fourth  form,  and  Saint- 
Louis  has  only  one  class  in  the  first  cycle,  one  of  the  third 
form  divisions.  These  two  lyce'es  are  practically  comple- 
mentary to  each  other,  for  they  represent  two  different  types 
of  disciplines,  the  former  having  only  Latin  pupils,  and  the 
latter  being  exclusively  a  scientific  school.  They  are  both 
fed  from  the  Lyce'e  Montaigne,  purely  an  elementary  lyc£e 
of  the  Third  Eepublic  whose  classes  stop  where  those  of  the 
two  older  ones  begin.  Of  the  other  Paris  lyce'es,  Henri  IV., 
which  is  also  on  a  very  old  foundation,  Cqndorcet,  and 
Charlemagne  were  in  existence  at  the  founding  of  the  new 
University  by  Napoleon.  The  College  Eollin,  supported 
entirely  by  the  city  of  Paris,  and  so  nominally  reckoned 
among  the  municipal  colleges,  is  nevertheless  the  peer  of 
the  lyc£es  in  name  and  in  fact.     Although  claiming  a  very 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  '     151 

ancient  descent  from  the  old  College  Sainte-Barbe,  it  actually 
dates  from  the  second  decade  of  the  nineteenth  century. 
The  Lyce'e  Michelet  at  Vanves,  just  outside  the  walls 
of  Paris,  was  established  under  the  last  Empire,  while  all 
the  others,  Janson-de-Sailly,  Buffon,  Voltaire,  Carnot,  and 
Lakanal,  have  been  created  since  the  advent  of  the  Third 
Kepublic.  The  last  named,  like  Michelet,  is  also  outside 
Paris,  although  it  is  likewise  reckoned  as  one  of  the  Paris 
lyc^es.  The  remaining  boys'  public  secondary  school  in 
Paris,  the  College  Chaptal,  on  a  municipal  foundation,  is  a 
kind  of  hybrid  institution.  It  is  a  combination  secondary 
and  higher  primary  school  that  is  governed  by  special  legis- 
lation ;  from  one  point  of  view  it  is  classed  with  neither,  yet 
from  another  it  must  be  reckoned  with  both. 

Thus  there  are,  all  told,  in  Paris  twelve  boys'  lyc£es  (in- 
cluding the  lower  form  Montaigne)  and  two  municipal 
colleges.  These  range  in  size  from  Lakanal 
with  six  hundred  pupils  to  Janson-de-Sailly  schools 
with  twenty-one  hundred.  In  these  twelve 
lycdes  there  are  approximately  twelve  thousand  pupils,  while 
in  the  ninety-nine  provincial  lyc£es  there  are  about  forty- 
five  thousand  more.  This  gives  roughly  one  thousand  per 
lyce'e  in  Paris,  and  rather  less  than  half  that  number  for 
each  of  the  country  schools.  No  city  except  Paris  and  Lyon 
has  more  than  one  boys'  lyc^e,  although  in  cities  of  the 
second  rank,  like  Marseille,  the  schools  are  badly  over- 
crowded. The  two  municipal  colleges  in  Paris  have  about 
twenty-five  hundred  pupils,  and  the  two  hundred  and  thirty 
others  about  thirty-four  thousand.  The  ordinary  communal 
college  is  thus  seen  to  be  a  comparatively  small  school,  aver- 
aging less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  each. 

There  is  considerable  similarity  about  the  general  archi- 
tectural plan  of   the  French  secondary  schools.     Although 
the  type  was  designed  to  accommodate  board- 
ing as  well  as  day  pupils,  the  idea  of  placing     0f  schools 
these  schools  outside  the  centers  of  population 
has  not  yet  received  any  general  recognition,  and  they  are 


152  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

still  essentially  city  structures  with  all  the  disadvantages 
that  such  a  situation  implies.  The  lyc^es  Michelet  and  La- 
kanal,  which  the  government  has  established  in  the  environs 
of  Paris  as  an  attempt  to  test  the  question  of  the  suburban 
school,  as  well  as  several  well  known  private  venture  schools 
have  not  attained  the  success  one  might  have  expected. 
The  Paris  parent  still  chooses  to  confine  his  boy  within  the 
cloistral  precincts  of  the  city  lyc£e  with  its  restricted  life 
rather  than  to  send  him  to  the  suburban  lycde  with  its  pure 
air  and  unlimited  sunlight.  In  the  city  school  he  can  easily 
see  his  child  any  noon  or  afternoon,  while  he  is  obliged  to 
spend  a  half  day  in  going  out  to  the  suburbs  and  back.  The 
French  are  passionately  bound  up  in  the  life  of  their  chil- 
dren and  cannot  bear  to  be  separated  from  them.  In  this 
case  their  intense  love  reaches  over  into  the  bounds  of  sel- 
fishness, for  they  do  not  realize  that  in  gratifying  them- 
selves they  are  at  the  same  time  jeopardizing  the  welfare  of 
their  children.  The  French  lyc£e  is  the  lineal  descendant 
of  the  old  college,  although,  thanks  to  the  merging  of  many 
of  these  earlier  foundations  at  the  time  of  the  expulsion  of 
the  Jesuits  and  the  subsequent  destruction  during  the  an- 
archy of  the  Eevolutionary  period,  it  is  usually  difficult  to 
trace  any  direct  connection  between  them.  The  old  colleges 
were  boarding  schools,  so  it  was  not  unnatural  that  the 
new  lyce'es  should  continue  this  characteristic  organization, 
especially  in  view  of  the  large  number  of  national  scholar- 
ships, which  included  food  and  lodging  as  well  as  tuition, 
that  were  founded  by  Napoleon.  The  result  is  a  public 
secondary  school  organization/6nat  does  not  exist  in  Ger- 
many, England,  or  America. /The  last  quarter  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  saw  such  an  alarming  falling  off  in  the 
number  of  boarding  pupils  as  to  suggest  a  popular  revulsion 
against  that  form  of  education,/Dut  since  the  reform  pro- 
gram went  into  effect  the  boarding  pupils  have  numerically 
held  their  own,  although  their  numbers  have  not  increased 
with  the  general  growth  of  the  schools. 

The  urban  situation  of  the  schools  and  the  necessity  of 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  153 

providing  recreation  facilities  for  the  resident  pupils  have 
gone  far  toward  determining  the  character  of  the  buildings. 
In  general  each  lyc£e  occupies  a  whole  city 

A  "Pa.t*i  q 

block,  the  buildings  hugging  the  streets  on  each  Lycee. 
side  and  enclosing  a  hollow  square  within, 
that  is  more  or  less  broken  up  by  interior  structures  into 
separate  courts  for  the  different  grades  of  pupils.  The  lyc£e 
Janson-de-Sailly,  completed  about  fifteen  years  ago  and  situ- 
ated in  the  newer  and  more  fashionable  quarter  of  the  city 
between  the  Trocad^ro  and  the  Bois  de  Boulogne,  may  fairly 
be  taken  as  one  of  the  best  types  of  lycdes  in  France  to-day. 
It  covers  the  greater  part  of  a  block  and  includes  more  than 
eight  acres  of  ground,  one  third  of  it  being  occupied  by  the 
various  buildings  and  the  remaining  two  thirds  being  left 
free  and  divided  into  courts  liberally  supplied  with  trees. 
The  buildings  are  chiefly  three-story  structures  of  brick 
and  stone  fireproof  construction  with  the  greater  part  of  the 
ground  floor  given  over  to  study  and  class  rooms,  and  the 
second  floor  to  laboratories  and  dormitories.  *  Ten  of  the  four- 
teen dormitories  are  on  this  second  floor,  the  other  four, 
together  with  the  quarters  for  the  domestics  that  are  lodged 
at  the  school,  being  on  the  third  floor.  The  gymnasium,  the 
finest  I  have  seen  in  all  France,  occupies  the  very  center 
of  the  plot  of  ground.  Between  this  and  the  entrance 
building,  which  contains  the  doorkeeper's  apartments  and 
the  school  parlors,  lies  the  magnificent  court  of  honor.  The 
court  oLhonor,  an  essential  feature  of  every  French  secon- 
dary school,  together  with  the  head  master's  garden,  is 
rarely  profaned  by  the  unholy  steps  of  the  ordinary  young- 
ster. At  Janson-de-Sailly,  the  entrance  building,  the  court 
of  honor,  the  gymnasium,  a  small  service  court,  and  the 
kitchen  and  boiler  room,  situated  one  behind  the  other,  cut 
out  a  middle  section  of  the  lyc^e  grounds.  The  adjoining 
buildings  thus  form  a  large  oblong  court  on  either  side, 
which  is  further  subdivided  into  two  nearly  square  courts  by 
a  covered  open-air  playground  containing  the  necessary  toi- 
let accessories.     These  four  courts  are  entirely  separate,  one 


154  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

from  the  other,  so  that  each  of  the  so-called  colleges1  that 
make  up  the  whole  lyc£e  has  a  playground  reserved  exclu- 
sively for  its  own  pupils.  There  is  still  another  court  be- 
yond the  outer  quadrangle  of  buildings  set  apart  for  the 
very  small  children  of  the  infant  class,  or  as  one  teacher 
facetiously  called  them,  the  "microbes."  The  class  rooms  are 
ranged  about  each  of  these  courts,  those  on  the  ground  floor 
opening  directly  into  it,  and  those  on  the  floor  above  opening 
into  a  long  corridor  that  usually  extends  along  the  court 
side.  This  plan  of  construction  certainly  facilitates  ingress 
and  egress,  and  in  case  of  need  it  would  be  possible  to  empty 
the  class  rooms  in  a  remarkably  short  space  of  time. 

Most  French  class  rooms  are  rather  barren  looking.    Those 

at  Janson-de-Sailly  share  the  ordinary  characteristics  save 

that  they   are   well  heated   from  the  French 

Arrangements.    Point    of    view>    hJ    a    central    steam    heating 

system,  and  they  are  moderately  well  lighted. 
Here  the  chief  source  of  light  is  from  windows  along  the 
street  side,  ordinarily  with  a  secondary  source  derived  from 
one  window  and  a  glass  top  door  opening  on  the  court.  The 
desks  are  so  placed  that  this  principal  light  is  always  at  the 
left  of  the  pupils,  although  its  quantity  is  appreciably  dimin- 
ished by  widespread  use  of  ground  glass.  The  plain  walls, 
bereft  of  ornamentation,  are  unbroken  save  by  an  occasional 
series  of  charts  hanging  on  a  couple  of  metal  pegs  in  the 
rooms  where  geography  or  history  classes  meet,  and  a  small 
blackboard,  varying  in  size  from  3  by  4  to  4  by  8  feet,  over 
the  high  platform  on  which  the  teacher's  desk  is  placed. 
The  unhygienic  cloth  or  the  yet  more  unsanitary  dry  sponge 
still  provides  the  sole  means  of  cleaning  this  board.  On 
very  rare  occasions  one  finds  a  wet  sponge  early  in  the 
morning,  but  this  is  so  unusual  as  scarcely  to  merit  men- 
tioning.    The  size  of  the  blackboard  necessarily  modifies  the 

1  This  word  college  has  nothing  in  common  with  college  signifying  a  muni- 
cipal secondary  school,  but  it  is  used  in  much  the  same  way  that  we  speak 
about  a  college  of  arts,  a  college  of  science,  etc.,  to  indicate  the  various  parts 
of  a  larger  organization. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  155 

method  of  instruction,  for  it  is  practically  impossible  to  send 
more  than  one  pupil  to  the  board  at  one  time.  The  French 
teacher  takes  the  position  that  whatever  is  worth  putting  on 
the  board  should  have  the  constant  attention  of  all  the 
pupils.  Apparently  this  sacrifices  speed,  but  when  one  con- 
siders the  total  amount  of  work  accomplished  the  real  prog- 
ress does  not  seem  to  have  suffered.  Pupils'  desks  are 
rarely  found  in  the  secondary  schools,  the  ordinary  substitute 
being  a  kind  of  "form"  with  occasionally  a  single  shelf 
below  for  books.  The  form  is  built  for  four  pupils,  and  the 
plain  wooden  benches  without  backs  that  accompany  it  are 
arranged  for  two  pupils  each.  The  seating  accommodations 
would  thus  be  uncomfortable  enough  for  a  short  period,  but 
the  discomfort  must  be  decidedly  aggravated  by  the  end  of 
the  fifty-five  or  sixty  minute  recitation  period  which  prevails 
everywhere.  The  forms  and  benches  in  the  science  lecture 
rooms  are  ranged  in  a  series  of  banks  that  rise  rapidly  from 
the  demonstration  table  at  the  front  of  the  room.  It  is  by 
no  means  unusual  to  find  a  similar  arrangement  in  the  ordi- 
nary class  rooms,  although  in  the  newer  buildings  they  are 
evidently  breaking  away  from  that  old  custom.  Scattered 
along  the  back  and  one  side  of  the  room  is  a  series  of  hooks 
for  hats  and  capes,  for  floor  space  is  too  valuable  to  be  taken 
up  with  coat  rooms.  Some  of  the  schools,  however,  have  a 
combination  dressing-room  and  lavatory  near  the  main  en- 
trance to  each  court,  which  is  used  in  common  by  all  the 
pupils  belonging  to  that  particular  college  of  the  lyc£e. 
One  is  struck  by  the  absence  of  any  assembly  hall,  but  as 
there  are  no  general  student  assemblies  the  reason  for  this 
omission  is  evident.  The  only  occasion  when  such  a  hall 
might  be  of  service  would  be  at  the  annual  distribution  of 
prizes,  and  at  this  time  the  gymnasium  or  some  public  hall 
is  called  into  service. 

Save  for  Henri  IV.,  Condor cet,  Charlemagne,  and  possibly 
Saint-Louis,  all  the  Paris  schools  must  be  considered  as 
modern  buildings.  The  older  buildings  are  really  lamentable 
from  the  hygienic  point  of  view,  and  in  some  respects  the 


156  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

new  ones  are  not  much  better.  For  instance,  Louis-le-Grand 
which  was  almost  entirely  rebuilt  less  than  fifteen  years  ago 
Other  Paris  at  a  cost  °f  upwards  of  nine  millions  of  francs 
Schools.  and  practically  forms  a  part  of  the  group 
of  buildings  of  the  new  university,  is  outwardly  a  mag- 
nificent structure,  architecturally  considered,  but  for  school 
purposes  it  is  wofully  disappointing.  Either  the  archi- 
tect was  ignorant  of  the  essentials  of  a  school  building  or 
else  he  deliberately  sacrificed  hygienic  conditions  to  artistic 
effect.  Out  of  the  dozen  or  fifteen  class  rooms  I  visited 
here,  I  failed  to  find  one  that  was  even  moderately  well 
lighted.  I  have  never  seen  so  many  pupils  suffering  from 
poor  eyesight  as  I  found  in  the  schools  of  Paris.  I  was 
consequently  quite  ready  to  believe  a  prominent  oculist 
when  he  told  me  that  most  French  people  still  looked  upon 
the  theory  of  eyestrain  as  a  physician's  notion.  The  French 
people  seem  to  prefer  less  heat  than  we  do,  so  it  is  perhaps 
hardly  fair  to  measure  the  temperature  of  their  rooms  by  our 
standard.  Sixty-five  degrees  Fahrenheit  is  very  warm  for  a 
French  class  room,  but  I  found  one  room  in  one  of  the  Paris 
lyce*es  where  the  temperature  was  under  forty-five  degrees. 
It  was  so  cold  the  pupils  could  hardly  hold  their  drawing 
pencils,  yet  the  two  stoves  were  absolutely  unable  to  raise 
the  temperature  and  there  was  apparently  no  procedure 
available  either  for  sending  the  pupils  to  another  room  or 
for  postponing  the  work  entirely.  It  is  gratifying  to  find  an 
occasional  voice  raised  in  protest  against  the  unsatisfactory 
condition  of  many  of  the  lyce*es  from  the  school  point  of 
view,  and  demanding  that  the  architectural  commission,  to 
whom  the  construction  plans  are  all  submitted,  should  be 
more  largely  composed  of  practical  school  men.  One  of  the 
Eibot  commission  declares  that  the  failure  to  do  this  is  re- 
sponsible for  "those  very  beautiful  buildings  which  have 
cost  so  dearly,  but  in  which  serious  errors  have  been  com- 
mitted from  the  educational  point  of  view  at  the  expense  of 
that  intellectual  and  moral  activity  which  should  be  the 
center  of  an  educational  institution."1 

1  Raiberti,  Regime  des  lyc6es,  p.  17,  in  Enquete,  VI. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  157 

All  the  schools  that  have  boarding  pupils  make  some  pro- 
vision for  bathing  arrangements.  Some  of  the  Paris  lyo^es 
arrange  to  send  then-  pupils  to  nearby  public 
baths,  and  in  this  case  each  one  has  a  hot  tub 
bath  at  least  as  often  as  once  a  month,  as  well  as  more 
frequent  foot  baths.  In  some  of  the  schools  the  tubs  that 
were  formerly  installed  there  have  been  replaced  by  the 
more  convenient  showers.  In  one  of  the  Paris  schools, 
where  unusual  importance  seemed  to  be  attached  to  bathing, 
every  interne  had  a  warm  shower  every  Wednesday  and  a 
warm  foot  bath  every  Saturday.  The  room  for  the  latter 
presents  a  peculiar  appearance  with  its  row  of  a  dozen  or 
fifteen  little  tubs  ranged  along  the  walls  in  front  of  a  long, 
low  bench.  The  temperature  of  the  water  is  regulated  by 
an  attendant,  and  the  tubs  are  all  filled  and  emptied  simul- 
taneously by  a  mechanical  contrivance  manipulated  by  the 
same  operator.  The  arrangements  at  this  school  and  the  op- 
portunities for  use  were  decidedly  the  most  favorable  that  I 
have  found  in  all  my  experience  in  France.  The  bath  does 
not  play  the  same  part  in  continental  life  that  it  does  in  our 
own,  partly,  perhaps,  because  the  children  are  less  given  to 
those  violent  forms  of  athletic  exercise  that  make  such  con- 
veniences essential.  In  France  the  shower  never  forms  an 
accessory  to  the  equipment  of  the  school  gymnasium. 

Although  for  some  years  now  the  gymnastic  work  in  all 
the  schools  has  been  patterned  almost  exclusively  after  the 
Swedish  system,  each  secondary  school  has  its     Gymnasium 
gymnasium   well   equipped   according  to   the  and 

French  standard.  The  ordinary  type  is  a  good-  Gymnastics- 
sized  hall,  the  smallest  I  have  found  being  at  least  fifty  by 
thirty  feet  on  the  floor,  and  two  stories  high,  in  the  main 
well  lighted,  but  not  always  well  ventilated.  In  the  better 
schools  about  half  the  ground  area  is  floored  over,  the  rest, 
dropped  somewhat  below  the  ordinary  level,  being  covered 
with  eight  or  ten  inches  of  sawdust  or  tan  bark.  All  the 
fixed  apparatus  is  on  or  over  this  latter  section,  where  the 
soft  surface  forms  an  inexpensive  substitute  for  the  gymna- 


158  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

shim  mat.  Although  the  upper  layer  is  removed  from  time 
to  time  and  water  used  with  reasonable  frequency,  it  still 
leaves  much  to  be  desired  from  the  hygienic  point  of  view. 
The  apparatus  is  all  simple,  consisting  chiefly  of  wands, 
dumb-bells,  parallel  bars,  flying  rings,  climbing  ropes,  a  hori- 
zontal bar,  a  horse,  and  a  jumping  board.  In  the  larger 
schools  with  their  numerous  classes,  it  is  not  unusual  to  find 
two  classes  going  on  simultaneously,  one  working  at  the 
heavier  apparatus  in  the  pit,  while  the  other  is  performing 
the  Swedish  evolutions  on  the  floor.  In  good  weather  this 
latter  work  is  often  carried  on  in  the  open  air.  The  hour 
and  a  half  per  week  required  of  all  except  the  candidates 
for  Saint-Cyr  (they  have  an  hour  extra)  is  cut  from  the  rec- 
reation. It  is  ordinarily  given  in  half-hour  periods.  One 
never  finds  any  special  dress  for  any  of  the  gymnasium  work, 
the  boys  merely  divesting  themselves  of  their  coats  and 
waistcoats ;  there  is  consequently  no  call  for  the  elaborate 
system  of  dressing-rooms,  lockers,  and  showers  that  form 
such  an  essential  feature  of  our  own  gymnasiums.  In  the 
smaller  provincial  schools,  this  gymnasium  equipment  is 
often  very  primitive..  At  times  the  building  is  open  to  the 
air  on  one  side,  and  the  floor  is  almost  invariably  covered 
with  a  thick  layer  of  dry,  mealy  loam. 

As  to  any  general  widespread  interest  in  athletics  in  the 
secondary  schools,  such  a  thing  practically  does  not  exist, 
partly  because  there  is  no  time  for  such  diver- 
sion, but  rather  because  whatever  fondness  for 
such  activity  one  finds  in  France  to-day  is  chiefly  an  acquired 
characteristic./  There  does  not  seem  to  be  that  innate  love 
for  the  athletic  life  that  forms  such  a  marked  trait  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  youtlv^  Most  of  the  Paris  lycees  have  their 
Eugby  and  Association  football  teams,  and  even  teams  for 
some  of  the  events  that  appear  upon  our  regular  track  and 
field  day  programs,  but  a  perusal  of  the  weekly  schedule 
of  the  French  schoolboy  will  show  how  impossible  it  is  for 
him  to  do  any  systematic  work  in  these  sports.  On  Sunday 
mornings  in  pleasant  weather,  one  may  often  see  groups  of 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  159 

boys  journeying  out  into  the  suburbs  for  some  inter-school  con- 
test, but  the  athletic  life  of  the  school  is  limited  to  encounters 
of  this  sort,  where  general  enthusiasm  and  the  expression  of 
strong  school  spirit  are  rarely  found  in  any  great  degree. 

No  secondary  school  for  internes  is  complete,  even  in  Paris 
where  hospitals  are  plenty,  without  its  infirmary.  Either 
occupying  an  entire  building  or  else  far  re- 
moved from  the  common  living  quarters,  this 
infirmary  with  its  separate  kitchen  and  dining  room,  with 
its  contagious  ward,  its  nursing  staff,  and  the  one  or  more 
school  physicians  at  a  moment's  call,  is  perfectly  capable  of 
handling  any  ordinary  situation  that  is  likely  to  arise.  Of 
course  in  serious  surgical  cases  recourse  is  had  to  the  city 
hospitals,  but  in  the  simpler  illnesses  the  pupil  is  much  better 
cared  for  at  the  infirmary  than  he  could  be  at  a  large  hospital 
or  even  at  home. 

The  apartments  of  the  head  master,  the  censor,  the  bursar, 
the  general  surveillants,  and  the  lodgings  provided  for  some 
of  the  ushers  and  other  members  of  the  ad- 
ministrative staff  as  well  as  the  domestics  that  Pupi£g 
live  at  the  school,  to  say  nothing  of  the  accom- 
modations for  the  boarding  pupils,  necessarily  make  Janson- 
de-Sailly  an  establishment  of  considerable  size.  Although 
its  dormitories  were,  designed  to  accommodate  four  hundred 
and  fifty  pupils,  there  were  only  about  two  hundred  actually 
in  residence  during  the  year  1906-7.  A  similar  condition 
of  affairs  seems  generally  to  prevail,  so  that  there  is  a  veri- 
table crisis  in  the  boarding  school  side  of  the  secondary 
school  system.  For  many  years  now  the  number  of  such 
pupils  in  all  the  lycees  has  been  growing  relatively  smaller, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  that  have  been  made  to  ameliorate  the 
situation.  Consequently,  the  three  newest  lyc^es  were  not 
built  to  accommodate  boarding  pupils.  At  Janson-de-Sailly, 
the  dormitories  are  fine,  spacious  rooms,  with  accommodations 
for  thirty-two   boys  in  each.1     These  rooms  are  all  high- 

1  The  only  boys'  state  schools  I   found  where  there  were  private  rooms 
were  the  College  Rollin  in  Paris  and  the  Lycee  Lakanal  just  outside  the  walls 


160  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

studded,  light,  and  airy,  with  windows  along  each  side,  one 
between  each  two  beds.  Midway  down  one  side  are  the 
surveillant's  quarters  curtained  off  from  the  rest  of  the  room. 
These  are  nothing  but  a  raised  platform  containing  a  chair,  a 
bed,  and  a  toilet  table,  and  so  placed  that  the  surveillant  can 
see  every  part  of  the  dormitory.  On  either  side  of  this  plat- 
form is  a  door  leading  to  the  lavatory.  Here  each  boy  has 
his  own  marble  wash  basin  with  space  for  toilet  articles  and 
a  hook  for  his  towel ;  he  is  not  allowed  to  keep  anything  in 
the  dormitory  during  the  day.  The  only  furniture  in  the 
dormitory  is  the  single  beds,  with  a  small  floor  rug  beside 
each  and  a  clothes  hook  on  the  wall  for  use  during  the  night 
only.  The  extra  suits  and  shoes  of  all  the  boys  in  the  dor- 
mitory are  kept  in  individual,  open  lockers  in  a  separate 
room  opening  out  of  one  end  of  the  dormitory,  and  the 
underclothes,  handkerchiefs,  neckwear,  bed  and  table  linen 
are  neatly  piled  in  a  series  of  small  lockers  in  still  another 
room.  These  are  cared  for  by  a  motherly  looking  woman 
who  keeps  everything  in  good  repair. 

When  the  boarding  pupils  enter  the  lyce*e,  each  must  be 
provided  with  an  entirely  new  outfit  of  clothes  and  supplies, 
containing  at  least  the  articles  enumerated  below : 2 

Pehiod  op 

RENEWA.L 

1  cape  of  blue  cloth  with  detachable  hood      .   * 3  yrs. 

1  jacket  (or  frock  coat,  for  pupils  of  first  form  and  above), 
blue  cloth,  palm  leaves  embroidered  in  gold  on  points  of 
collars,  and  gilt  buttons  of  the  lyc6e l£  " 

2  prs.  winter  trousers,  blue  cloth,  one  pr.  each 1     " 

1  pr.  trousers,  cheviot  (for  pupils  of  the  little  lyc6e  only)     .    .      1     " 

2  winter  waistcoats,  blue  cloth,  single  row  of  small  gilt  but- 
tons, one  every 1£  *.*. 

2  prs.  summer  trousers,  of  light  wool,  one  pr.  each 1    " 

2  summer  waistcoats,  of  light  wool,  one  pr.  each 1|  il 

at  Sceaux.  Here  the  old  dormitories  had  been  cut  up  into  a  series  of  cubicles, 
so  to  speak,  by  erecting  a  series  of  partitions  about  eight  feet  high  between 
the  beds.  The  upper  part  of  the  room  was  all  open  so  as  to  facilitate  the  sur- 
veillance, but  even  this  arrangement  gave  each  boy  some  measure  of  privacy. 
1  Prospectus  of  the  Lycee  Janson-de-Sailly,  at  Paris,  p.  25.  The  variations 
between  this  and  those  of  the  other  lycees  and  colleges  are  merely  verbal. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  161 

2  winter  coats,  of  wool,  one  pr.  each 1    yr. 

2  summer  coats,  of  cotton  and  wool,  one  each 1     " 

1  cap,  blue  cloth  with  gold  palms,  one  each 1£  " 

1  tam-o'-shanter,  for  winter 1     " 

3  prs.  lace  shoes As  necessary 

6  linen  sheets,  3m.  30  by  2m.  10 " 

12  linen  towels,  0m.  94  by  0m.  73 " 

10  white  shirts " 

4  night  shirts " 

18  linen  handkerchiefs " 

4  prs.  cotton  drawers " 

4  black  cravats,  one  every 3  mos. 

14  prs.  cotton  stockings As  necessary 

1  toilet  set  including  comb,  fine  comb,  hair  brush, 
comb  brush,  clothes  brush,  nail  brush,  tooth  brush,         "        " 

1  stamp  for  marking  clothes "         " 

1  laundry  bag 'A        " 

This  clothing  must  conform  to  a  particular  type.  The 
cost  is  458  or  478  francs  depending  upon  whether  the  boy 
wears  a  jacket  or  a  frock  coat.  The  parents  are  at  liberty  to 
supplement  this  list  with  such  additional  clothing  as  the  boy 
is  accustomed  to  wear.  If  the  parents  so  desire,  the  regula- 
tion supplies  will  be  furnished  by  the  lyc£e  and  charged 
upon  the  term  bill.  The  lyc^e  will  also  look  after  the  re- 
pairs and  the  necessary  renewals  at  an  annual  cost  of  160 
francs.  No  mention  is  found  here  of  collars  or  cuffs.  If 
these  are  attached  to  the  shirts,  they  are  reckoned  with  the 
latter.  If  detached,  as  the  collars  are  usually,  the  laundry 
work  is  done  outside  the  school  and  it  is  always  at  the  ex- 
pense of  the  pupil.  Within  the  school,  the  boys  are  at 
liberty  to  wear  ordinary  clothes,  but  nobody  may  go  out  at 
any  time  without  the  full  regulation  blue  uniform  of  the 
lycde.  When  the  pupil  severs  his  connection  with  the 
school,  all  his  property  is  returned  to  him,  save  the  sheets 
and  the  towels,  which  are  retained  for  the  use  of  the  in- 
firmary. 

In  applying  for  admission,  every  pupil  must  submit: 

n 


162  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

1.  His  birth  certificate  ; 

2.  A  certificate  attesting  that  he  has  been  vaccinated ; 

3.  A  class  certificate,  if  he  comes  from  a  Paris  lyc^e  or  college ; 

4.  A  certificate  of  good  conduct  if  he  comes  from  any  other 
Bchool ; 

5.  A  certificate  testifying  that  his  account  at  any  other  lycee 
he  may  have  attended  is  paid  ;  and 

6.  A  bulletin  containing,  besides  the  customary  personal  and 
family  information,  the  address  of  his  correspondent  in  Paris,  the 
names  of  the  persons  whom  the  parents  authorize  to  take  him 
away  from  the  school,  the  names  of  the  persons  authorized  to  visit 
the  pupil  at  the  school  parlor,  and  finally  the  religious  persuasion 
of  the  boy,  and  whether  or  not  he  is  to  attend  religious  services 
and  to  receive  religious  instruction. 

Some  of  these  requirements,  notably   those  in  the  last 

section,  appear  rather  peculiar  to  one  accustomed  to  the  free 

open   life  of   our  American  schools,  but  the 

Correspondents.     x  „  ,.         ,    ,  ,.„     ,, 

r  more  one  sees  of  continental  life,  the  more  one 

is  impressed  with  the  innumerable  restrictions  that  surround 
the  individual  from  the  moment  he  comes  into  the  world 
until  he  takes  his  leave  therefrom.  Yet  France  is  nominally 
a  republic  like  our  own.  The  correspondent  referred  to 
above  is  a  person  designated  by  the  parent,  in  case  he  does 
not  live  in  Paris,  to  act  as  his  personal  representative  as  far 
as  his  boy's  relations  with  the  school  are  concerned.  The 
correspondent  pays  the  pupil's  term  bills,  agrees  to  take  him 
away  from  the  lycde  at  least  once  a  month,  and  stands  ready 
to  receive  him  at  any  time  in  case  it  becomes  necessary  to 
send  him  away  from  the  school  for  any  reason  whatsoever. 

The  parents  likewise  designate  to  the  head  master  all  the 
persons  who  are  authorized  to  call  to  take  the  sons  away  from 

the  school.     Each  pupil  is  entitled  by  right  to 
Absence*      a  ^eave  °^  absence  every  alternate  Sunday,  while 

on  the  other  Sunday  he  is  granted  this  by  favor 
in  case  the  character  of  his  work  and  his  conduct  are  above 
reproach.  On  ordinary  days  no  pupil  is  allowed  to  leave 
the  school  except  for  very  unusual  reasons.     On  Sundays 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  163 

even,  the  pupil  may  leave  the  school  only  between  certain 
hours,  between  eight  and  eleven,  between  half  past  twelve 
and  half  past  one,  and  between  quarter  past  four  and  quarter 
past  five.  In  any  case  he  must  be  back  by  ten  o'clock  in  the 
evening.  Before  leaving,  each  boy  receives  a  card  on  which 
are  inscribed  the  time  of  his  departure  and  the  time  he  is 
to  come  back.  On  his  return  he  must  deliver  this  to  the 
general  surveillant  signed  by  the  person  at  whose  house  he 
has  been.  Pupils  under  seventeen  years  of  age  must  be 
called  for  by  their  parents,  guardians,  correspondents,  or  other 
persons  specially  delegated  for  this  purpose  by  the  parents 
and  approved  by  the  head  master.  In  case  any  other  person 
claims  this  privilege,  he  must  present  a  letter  dated  and  signed 
by  the  pupil's  family.  Under  certain  conditions  and  at  the 
special  request  of  the  parents,  boys  under  seventeen  may  be 
allowed  to  leave  and  return  unaccompanied  by  an  older  per- 
son. In  the  case  of  boys  over  seventeen,  this  permission  is 
granted  only  when  the. parents  express  such  a  desire.  Such 
is  the  care  with  which  these  comings  and  goings  are  regu- 
lated that  no  boy  is  ever  under  any  circumstances  allowed 
to  leave  the  school  alone  unless  the  head  master  is  assured 
in  writing,  either  by  a  note  attached  to  the  leave  card  of  the 
previous  week  or  by  letter  addressed  to  the  school,  that  the 
proper  person  is  expecting  the  boy  on  the  following  Sunday. 
Even  when  there  are  several  consecutive  holidays,  the  pupils 
are  not  allowed  to  sleep  at  home  save  at  the  written  request 
of  their  parents. 

The  boys  in  the  schools  in  France  are  as  much  restricted  in 
the  matter  of  their  correspondence  as  are  the  pupils  in  the 
most  exclusive  girls'  boarding  schools  in  Amer-    Correspond- 
ica.     The  letters  are  all  carefully  inspected,  and      ence  and 
parents  are  urged  not  only  to  countersign  all         isitora. 
their  own  letters,  but  also  to  deposit  with  the  school  author- 
ities the  autograph  and  the  signature  of  everybody  with  whom 
their  children  are  authorized  to  correspond.     In  general  the 
pupils'  visitors  are  restricted  to  their  relatives  and  "corre- 
spondents."    If  other  friends  wish  to  see  them,  they  must 


164  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

present  to  the  school  authorities  a  written  request  from  the 
parents  to  that  effect.  All  visits  take  place  during  the  chief 
recreation  periods,  between  half  past  twelve  and  half  past 
one,  and  between  half  past  four  and  five  o'clock.  Such  is 
the  strictness  with  which  this  school  life  is  dominated  that 
brothers  belonging  to  different  divisions  in  the  same  lycde 
are  allowed  to  see  each  other  only  during  recreation  periods 
and  in  the  school  parlor. 

Although  the  presence  of  boarding  pupils  at  the  public 
secondary  schools  in  France  is  probably  their  most  striking 
characteristic  to  a  stranger,  not  all  or  even  the 
Pupils.0  major  part  of  the  students  fall  in  this  category 
to-day.  In  the  original  colleges  practically  all 
the  pupils  were  in  residence.  Even  at  the  time  of  the  found- 
ing of  the  university  by  Napoleon,  the  internes  still  formed  the 
major  part  of  the  secondary  school  population.  Since  that 
time  there  has  been  almost  a  steady  decline  in  their  relative 
number,  as  the  table  on  the  following,  page  will  show. 

There  are  four  general  categories  of  students:  boarders, 
half  boarders,  supervised  day  pupils,  and  ordinary  day 
pupils.  In  all  the  secondary  schools  save  five  lyc^es  in 
the  city  of  Paris,  these  four  classes  are  all  represented, 
although  in  the  great  majority  of  the  municipal  colleges, 
the  boarding  department  is  carried  on  at  the  private  ini- 
tiative of  the  head  master.  /The  half  boarders,  as  well 
as  the  day  pupils,  live  at  home,  or  else  in  certain  private 
families  or  pensions  sanctioned  by  the  head  master.,  The 
former  enjoy  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  boarding 
pupils,  except  that  they  have  only  two  meals  at  the  school 
and  they  sleep  outside.  Their  books  and  school  supplies 
are  included  in  their  regular  fees,  and  they  are  likewise 
called  upon  to  furnish  their  individual  table  linen.  They 
come  to  school  in  the  morning  at  eight  or  half  past,  ac- 
cording to  the  time  of  the  morning  class,  and  they  remain 
all  day  until  half  past  six  or  seven  o'clock,  the  close  of 
the  last  study  period.  During  the  intervening  hours  they 
are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  regular  boarding  pupils, 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  165 

PUBLIC  SECONDARY  SCHOOL  POPULATION  (BOYS)  1809-1906* 


Year 

Boarders 

Half  Boarders 

Day  Pupils 

Totals 

S 

C 

S 

C 

S 

c 

S          C 

1809 

5782 

5312 

145 

276 

3141 

12919 

9068 

18507 

(2188) 

27575 

1811 

5651 

7177 

248 

580 

5027 
(2566) 

16401 

10926  |24204 
35130 

1813 

5709 

8931 

427 

848 

8356 
(4620) 

19730 

14492  j 29559 
44051 

1816 

4068 

5461 

172 

499 

4373 
(2774) 

12532 

«613  | 18554 
27167 

1821 

4973 

6185 

251 

577 

6834 
(4185) 

15963 

12058  |22799 
34857 

1826 

5263 

7051 

328 

603 

8291 
(4885) 

17727 

13882  |25490 
39372 

1831 

5164 

7557 

299 

711 

8988 
(4967) 

16863 

14451  |25348 
39799 

1836 

5474 

7484 

433 

842 

8962 
(4697) 

14286 

14869  |22925 
37794 

1841 

6741 

8996 

586 

1134 

9950 
(5175) 

14905 

17277  |25324 
42601 

1851 

7011 

8266 

880 

1183 

11378 
(7126) 

16869 

19269  |26318 
45587 

1861 

13318 

9742 

2670 

1674 

12387 
(9402) 

18497 

28375  |29913 
58288 

1871 

14486 

9950 

3186 

1500 

17346 
(15059) 

18280 

35018  | 29730 
64748 

1881 

19523 

13980 

5243 

2441 

22969 
(21040) 

24883 

47889  1  |  41304 

89193 

1891 

17385 

10235 

5353 

1652 

29503 

(27895) 

20155 

52241  |  32042 
84283 

1901 

12744 

10077 

6008 

2244 

33571 

(27766) 

21051 
(15194) 

52323  |  33372 
85695 

1906 

12323 

10772 

5271 

2359 

40016 
(32152) 

23485 
(17315) 

57610  | 36616 
94226 

s  =  State  secondary  schools,  during  the  years  covered  by  this  table,  first  called 
lyc^es,  then  royal  colleges,  and  finally  lycees  again. 

o  =  Communal  or  municipal  colleges. 

The  ordinary  figures  under  "Day  Pupils"  from  1809  to  1841  do  not  fairly  represent 
the  real  state  of  affairs,  for  they  include  those  pupils  living  at  institutions  of  various 
sorts  who  are  brought  to  the  school  in  the  morning  and  taken  away  again  at  night. 
These  latter  are  practically  boarding  pupils  that  live  outside  the  school.  For  the  years 
1901  and  1906,  the  ordinary  figures  include  also  the  supervised  day  pupils.  In  every 
case  the  figures  in  parentheses  under  the  same  caption  indicate  the  number  of 
ordinary  day  pupils.  The  break  between  1813  and  1816  is  significant.  If  the  figures 
for  all  the  years  were  included,  a  similar  state  of  affairs  would  be  noted  after  1830, 
1848,  and  1870,  thus  showing  how  quickly  the  school  population  reacts  to  political 
disturbances. 


166  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

both  having  their  meals,  their  recreations,  and  their  super- 
vised study  periods  in  common.  The  ordinary  day  stu- 
dents take  no  part  in  the  life  of  the  lyce'e  outside  the 
regular  class  work,  while  the  supervised  day  students 
enjoy  the  additional  privilege  of  studying  at  the  school 
after  the  classes  of  the  day  are  over  under  the  super- 
vision of  the  ushers.  Except  for  the  time  between  the 
close  of  the  morning  and  the  beginning  of  the  afternoon 
classes,  their  hours  at  the  school  correspond  to  those  of 
the  half  boarders,  but  they  do  not  share  in  the  text-book 
privileges  of  the  latter.  The  parents  of  both  these  classes 
of  pupils  are  kept  in  much  closer  touch  with  the  work 
of  their  children  than  are  those  of  the  ordinary  day  pupils, 
by  means  of  a  system  of  daily  report  books.  In  these 
the  usher  in  charge  of  the  study  room  enters  the  marks 
that  each  pupil  has  received  during  the  day,  whether 
given  by  himself  or  by  the  class  teacher,  together  with  any 
communication  the  administration  wishes  transmitted  to 
the  parents.  These  report  books  are  sent  home  every 
night  and  must  be  brought  back  the  next  morning,  signed 
by  the  parent  or  his  duly  authorized  representative.  The 
pupils  that  come  and  go  are  strictly  forbnJ4en  to  under- 
take any  commissions  outside  for  the  boarding  pupils.  Al- 
though boy-like  this  regulation  is  doubtless  transgressed, 
it  is  not  often.  In  fact  there  is  little  opportunity  for 
any  collusion,  for  they  have  no  chance  to  see  each  other 
privately.  In  some  of  the  largest  lyce'es  the  internes 
are  sometimes  in  classes  by  themselves,  and  in  any  case, 
whether  in  the  class  room,  in  the  study  room,  or  on  the 
playground,  they  are   under   constant   supervision. 

The  fees  charged  by  the  State  for  this  instruction 
show  a  very  wide  variation,  especially  in  the  provincial 
schools,  but  it  is  certainly  questionable  if 
the  real  worth  of  the  instruction  varies  as 
greatly.  The  accompanying  table  shows  the  amount  of  these 
fees,  according  to  the  revised  schedule,  each  amount  being  a 
multiple  of  nine  in  order  to  facilitate  the  book-keeping: 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE 

ANNUAL  FEES  IN  PARIS  AND  PROVINCIAL  LYCfiES1 

Schedule,  December,  1912  (Amounts  in  Francs) 


Day  Pupils 

Supervised 
Day  Pupils 

Half  Boarders 

Boarders 

Prov. 

Paris 

Prov. 

Paris 

Prov. 

Paris 

Prov. 

Paris 

Infant 

Class    .    . 

45-81 

90-153 

63-126 

135-243 

243-396 

495-603 

405-720 

909-1008 

Prepara- 

tory- 

Seventh 

Form    .    . 

64-171 

108-324 

72-243 

144-414 

297-423 

504-765 

534-891 

1008-1215 

First 

Cycle  .    . 

81-225 

306-423 

126-315 

396-513 

396-621 

801-1035 

630-1107 

1350-1557 

Second 

Cycle  .    . 

108-270 

351-474 

153-369 

441-567 

441-666 

900-1134 

711-1305 

1530-1611 

Special 

Prepara- 

tory 

Forms     .    . 

126-477 

351-720 

180-621 

441-810 

459-873 

855-1278 

711-1404 

1710-1773 

Prov.,  Provincial  Lycees                                    Paris,  Paris  Lyc6es 

The  official  regulations  contain  even  more  divisions 
than  are  represented  here,  but  the  table  has  been  con- 
densed for  the  sake  of  simplicity.  The  very  wide  ex- 
tremes found  for  the  preparatory-seventh  form  above  may 
partially  be  explained  on  the  score  that  these  figures 
extend  from  the  lowest  priced  tenth  form  to  the  high- 
est priced  seventh  form.  In  spite  of  all  the  care  ex- 
pended in  making  an  equitable  distribution  of  charges, 
however,  there  are  still  some  manifest  inequalities.  It 
is  obviously  unfair  to  charge  some  of  the  pupils  in  the 
second  cycle  in  the  Paris  lycees  1,125  francs  for  their 
expenses  aside  from  tuition  fees,  while  pupils  in  the 
special  preparatory  classes  at  the  same  school  are  pay- 
ing only  1,026  francs  for  the  same  privileges.  A  careful 
study  of  the  fees  at  some  of  the  provincial  schools  will 
bring  out  even  stronger  injustices. 

1  Compiled  from  Annuaire  de  lajeunesse,  1913,  pp.  238  et  seq.,  586. 


168  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

The  fees  of  the  boarding  pupils  cover  instruction, 
text-books,  and  class  room  supplies,  food  and  lodging, 
including  bedding  (aside  from  linen),  washing,  mending, 
simple  drugs  and  medicines  prescribed  by  the  visiting 
physician,  and  the  ordinary  repairs  to  the  foot  wear. 

The  lyc£e  makes  ample  provision  for  pupils  that  desire 
private  lessons  outside  the  regular  school  subjects,  for 
attached  to  every  school  are  teachers  of  the 
piano  and  other  musical  instruments,  fencing, 
special  gymnastics,  dancing,  boxing,  swimming,  and  riding, 
that  are  recommended  by  the  administration.  Instruction 
in  these  accomplishments  is  naturally  an  extra  for  which 
the  families  arrange  directly  with  the  teachers  or  through 
the  mediation  of  the  bursar  as  financial  agent  only. 
The  time  for  this  work  is  all  taken  from  recreation  pe- 
riods, but  no  boarding  pupil  is  allowed  to  participate 
in  any  of  these  activities  without  the  approval  of  the 
head  master.  Except  for  the  fencing  and  the  horseback 
riding,  which  are  prescribed  for  the  candidates  for 
Saint-Cyr,  no  one  of  these  activities  engages  the  atten- 
tion of  any  large  portion  of  the  internes,  the  poor  fellows 
being  so  crowded  with  work  that  the  time  would  fail 
even  if  the  inclination  were  present,  but  in  walking  about 
the  grounds  any  afternoon  during  the  recreation  periods, 
one  will  commonly  hear  the  click  of  the  foils  or  the 
subdued  scraping  of  a  distant  violin. 

The  discipline  in  the  French  lyc^e  of  to-day  is  mildness 
itself  compared  to  the  conditions  that  existed  prior  to  the  re- 
form of  1890.  At  that  time  the  rigor  of  the 
SC1P me-  military  code  that  had  prevailed  since  the 
First  Empire  was  largely  abolished,  the  roll  of  the  drum  as 
the  signal  to  mark  the  limits  of  the  classes  and  the  various 
other  activities  of  the  daily  life  being  perhaps  the  most  strik- 
ing heritage  of  the  former  regime.  Nowadays  the  pupils 
are  allowed  to  talk  in  a  human  fashion  at  meal  time,  while 
changing  classes,  and  during  the  gymnasium  period.  Even 
though  the  teacher  of  the  present  has  lost  some  of  the  char- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  169 

acteristics  of  the  martinet  of  old  days,  it  is  decidedly  unusual 
to  find  evidences  of  any  close  personal  feeling  between  the 
teacher  and  the  pupils  to-day.  The  very  great  majority  of 
the  teaching  staff  seem  to  be  interested  in  the  life  of  the 
pupils  in  the  abstract  rather  than  in  the  concrete.  Outside 
the  narrow  limits  of  the  class  the  teacher  is  absorbed  in  his 
own  work  and  in  his  own  professional  advancement,  for  he 
takes  the  position  that  in  the  long  run  this  is  the  most  effec- 
tive way  of  insuring  the  intellectual  growth  of  his  class  as  a 
whole.  This  makes  the  attitude  of  the  devoted  men  I  have 
met  who  take  the  opposite  view  of  their  own  personal  obli- 
gations in  their  teaching  work  stand  out  all  the  more 
clearly.  In  the  main  the  relationship  between  teacher  and 
pupils  seems  to  be  intellectual  and  collective  rather  than 
social  and  individual.  Theoretically  the  head  master  is  the 
unifying  element  in  all  the  influences  brought  to  bear  upon 
the  pupils,  but  where  the  school  population  numbers  hun- 
dreds, and  even  passes  the  thousand  mark,  as  it  does  in 
several  instances,  the  task  is  manifestly  impossible  of  realiza- 
tion. Although  this  latter  evil  was  very  clearly  indicated 
in  the  report  of  a  committee  appointed  to  study  the  question 
twenty  years  ago,1  no  marked  amelioration  of  conditions 
seems  yet  to  have  been  effected. 

The  chief  incentive  to  stimulate  the  pupils  to  work  is  un- 
doubtedly provided  by  the  marking  system.     One  can  hardly 
spend  a  half  hour  in  any  class  without  being    punishments 
struck   by   the   importance   attached    to   this.  and 

Every  individual  recitation  is  valued  by  the  ewar  s' 
teacher  ordinarily  on  a  scale  of  ten,  and  the  pupil  eagerly 
awaits  the  measure  of  appreciation  accorded  his  work,  and 
usually  records  it  in  his  report  book.  It  must  be  noted  in 
this  connection  that  the  conduct  of  the  recitation  in  France 
presents  certain  marked  characteristics.  It  is  a  most  formal 
ordeal  for  the  pupil,  for  he  is  ordinarily  called  up  before  the 
class  and  is  subjected  to  a  searching  inquiry.     The  teacher 

1  Rapport  de   la  Sous-Commission  de  discipline,  1888,    Recueil  de  regie- 
ments  relatifs  a  Venseignement  secondaire,  p.  735. 


170  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

is  thus  able  to  arrive  at  an  accurate  appreciation  of  the  pu- 
pil's comprehension  of  the  subject,  or  at  least  of  his  knowl- 
edge of  the  lesson  of  the  day.  Under  this  system,  a  mark 
of  zero  is  seldom  given.  All  written  work  is  carefully  val- 
ued, this  time  upon  a  scale  of  twenty,  and  the  marks  are 
usually  announced  to  all  the  class  when  the  papers  are  re- 
turned. It  is  not  at  all  uncommon  to  see  half  a  dozen  boys 
taking  down  the  marks  of  all  their  comrades,  for  thus  they 
are  able  to  keep  track  of  their  relative  positions  in  the  classes, 
and  their  chance  for  distinction  at  the  regular  periods.  All 
the  marks,  whether  for  recitations  or  for  written  work, 
whether  given  by  the  regular  teachers  in  the  class  room  or 
by  the  usher  in  the  study  room,  are  sent  to  the  censor  every 
day  and  by  him  transmitted  to  the  head  master.  In  this 
way  the  administration  keeps  in  daily  touch  with  the  work 
of  each  individual  pupil  in  the  school,  and  any  slighting  of 
work  is  promptly  communicated  to  the  parents  in  the  case  of 
the  outside  pupils  or  dealt  with  in  the  school  itself  in  the 
case  of  the  internes.  Several  poor  marks  are  likely  to  draw 
down  upon  the  pupil  some  more  severe  punishment.  He 
may  have  to  do  his  work  over  again  partially  or  entirely ;  he 
may  have  extra  work  assigned  to  be  done ;  or  he  may  be  re- 
quired to  return  to  school  on  Thursday,  the  regular  secular 
holiday  in  France,  or  on  Sunday  morning  for  one  or  two 
hours  of  work.  In  more  severe  cases  the  internes  may  be 
deprived  of  the  regular  Thursday  or  Sunday  walk,  or  even  be 
denied  leave  of  absence  on  Sundays  or  holidays.  This  latter 
punishment  is  comparatively  rare  and  is  never  imposed 
except  in  instances  of  real  gravity.  Pupils  are  sometimes 
excluded  from  the  class  or  study  room  and  sent  to  the 
censor  with  a  note.  This  is  rather  a  serious  punishment 
and  is  likely  to  result  in  the  infliction  of  one  of  the  penalties 
just  mentioned.  Finally  there  is  temporary  or  permanent 
exclusion  from  the  school.  The  head  master  has  control  of 
all  the  severer  punishments,  save  that  of  exclusion  which  is 
pronounced  by  the  disciplinary  council.  This  is  a  body  com- 
posed of  the  head  master  as  president,  the  censor,  five  pro- 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  171 

fessors,  and  a  general  surveillant  and  two  ushers  chosen  by 
their  colleagues,  which  was  instituted  to  secure  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  various  factors  of  the  administration  in  cases 
where  severe  disciplinary  action  had  to  be  taken.  Except 
in  most  unusual  cases,  a  warning  always  precedes  the*  impo- 
sition of  the  extreme  penalty.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the 
functions  of  this  council  are  not  confined  to  punishment,  for 
pupils  that  have  particularly  distinguished  themselves  may 
also  be  called  before  it  to  receive  its  congratulations. 

Aside  from  the  records  of  daily  work  already  referred  to,1 
formal  reports  are  sent  out  every  three  months  for  the 
upper  division  and  twice  as  often  for  the  other  pupils. 
These  trimestrial  reports  are  of  considerable  importance. 
They  are  made  up  for  each  class  or  each  section  by  all  the 
teachers  of  that  particular  group  in  common  meeting.  Fur- 
thermore the  head  master  appears  in  person  before  each  class 
to  make  public  announcement  of  the  grades  received  by  the 
various  pupils,  and  to  add  his  personal  comments  of  encour- 
agement or  reproof.  At  these  same  teachers'  conferences, 
one  or  two  pupils  are  selected  from  each  class  on  the  basis 
of  all-around  achievement  for  inscription  upon  the  roll  of 
honor  of  the  school.  This  is  posted  in  a  conspicuous  place 
in  the  entrance  hall  in  plain  view  of  pupils,  parents,  and 
visitors,  there  to  remain  until  a  new  selection  is  made  at  the 
end  of  the  next  quarter. 

The  grand  gala  day  of  the  whole  year  is  the  distribution 
of  prizes  which  marks  its  close.  Under  the  presidency  of 
the  mayor  of  the  commune  or  the  arrondisse- 
ment,  it  becomes  a  festive  occasion  of  consid- 
erable local  significance.  The  pupils  receive  much  good 
counsel  in  a  lay  sermon  preached  by  one  of  their  masters  or 
some  invited  guest  along  the  traditional  ethical  or  patriotic 
lines ;  the  parents  are  flattered  if  their  child's  name  appears 
in  the  inordinately  long  prize  list ;  and  a  widespread  feeling 
of  good  fellowship  is  engendered  toward  the  State  in  general 
and  toward  the  lyc£e  in  particular.     The   distinctions   are 

1  Cf.  supra,  p.  166. 


172  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

awarded  not  only  on  the  general  average  of  the  work  of  the 
year,  but  on  the  results  of  the  marks  obtained  in  the  compo- 
sitions. These  latter  are  no  whit  different  from  quarterly 
examinations,  save  that  their  chief  function  appears  to  be  to 
furnishr  the  basis  for  the  distribution  of  the  above  distinc- 
tions. Aside  from  the  hardship  of  laying  so  much  stress  on 
three  single  examinations,  the  chance  for  possible  injustice 
is  further  enhanced  by  doubly  weighting  the  last  examina- 
tion in  each  series.  Thus  although  these  papers  are  all 
marked  on  a  scale  of  twenty,  the  importance  of  this  latter  in 
the  prize  competition  is  determined  by  doubling  the  mark 
originally  obtained.  It  is  gratifying  to  find  here  and  there  a 
growing  opposition  to  this  system  of  compositions  and  prizes, 
although  one  has  little  ground  for  sharing  the  opinion  of  one 
optimistic  censor  who  declared  that  the  abolition  of  these 
two  evils  was  already  in  sight.  The  prize  list  of  one  of  the 
Paris  lyc^es  at  the  close  of  the  year  1906-7 2  contained 
nearly  twenty-eight  hundred  names,  accredited  with  various 
degrees  of  excellence  varying  from  first  prizes  to  mere  hon- 
orable mentions.  These  were  all  gained  by  the  pupils  from 
the  fourth  form  up,  who  make  up  about  half  the  twenty-one 
hundred  boys  at  the  school.  It  would  thus  almost  appear 
to  be  a  mark  of  greater  distinction  not  to  have  one's  name 
upon  the  prize  list.  /Such  a  custom  seems  quite  incompre- 
hensible to  an  American,  but  the  whole  question  becomes 
lucid  enough  when  one  recalls  the  role  that  the  decoration 
plays  in  the  French  national  life./  The  recipients  of  these 
state  favors  range  all  the  way  from  the  humble  workman 
who  receives  a  few  sous  per  day  added  to  his  ordinary  wage 
to  the  illustrious  scientist  or  man  of  letters  who  is  justly 
proud  of  being  admitted  to  the  "  Immortals."  In  January, 
1908,  at  the  annual  distribution  of  honors,  the  French  gov- 
ernment conferred  no  fewer  than  five  thousand  three  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  decorations,2  or  one  for  every  seven 
thousand  five  hundred  men,  women,  and  children  in  the 

1  Lycte  Janson-de-Sailly,  Distribution  solonnelle  des  prix,  Sljuillet,  1907. 

2  Journal  OJiciel,  Jan.  20,  1908. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  173 

land.  It  is  such  a  generally  recognized  means  of  stimula- 
tion to  effort  that  the  great  number  of  honors  conferred  by 
the  school  above  occasioned  no  surprise.  The  French  point 
of  view  on  the  treatment  of  the  question  of  prizes  is  clearly 
shown  in  a  report  on  that  subject  in  1888  :  "  The  prize  is  an 
excellent  recompense  in  itself.  To  give  a  good  book  as  an 
encouragement  to  a  pupil  that  is  fond  of  study,  in  other 
words,  to  put  into  his  hands  an  opportunity  for  work  and 
further  progress,  what  could  be  wiser?  .  .  .  The  prize  is 
only  an  addendum  and  a  symbol ;  the  real  recompense  is  the 
publication  of  the  results  of  the  work."1 

Although  some  of  the  very  early  colleges  had  a  certain 
number  of  free  scholarships,  the  system  as  it  is  at  present 
administered  owes  its  origin  to  Napoleon.  At 
first  the  basis  of  selection  (for  the  scholarship 
holders  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  First  Consul  from 
among  the  children  of  soldiers  or  public  functionaries  who 
had  died  in  the  performance  of  their  duty)  furnishes  a 
further  indication  of  the  tendency  of  his  government  to 
create  an  office  holding  class.  The  free  tuition  in  the  lycees 
and  colleges  to-day  granted  to  children  of  primary  and  sec- 
ondary teachers,  although  nominally  intended  to  provide  an 
additional  perquisite  to  a  poorly  paid  class  of  individuals, 
is  a  survival  of  that  earlier  custom  that  is  pointing  in  the 
same  direction.  The  danger  of  such  a  tendency  has  already 
been  signalized :  "  The  great  majority  of  the  French  aspire 
to  a  public  calling,  and  it  appears  that  among  the  young 
men  whom  the  State  is  educating  at  its  own  expense  the 
proportion  of  future  functionaries  is  greater  than  it  is  any- 
where else.  Out  of  a  total  of  nine  hundred  and  seventy-five 
scholarship  holders  that  left  the  lycdes  during  the  years 
1894,  1895,  and  1896,  only  one  hundred  and  seven  had  the 
wisdom  to  turn  to  commercial  or  industrial  life." 2  In  1802 
we  find  a  new  criterion  entering  into  the  basis  of  selection 

1  Rapport  de  la  Sous-Commission  de  discipline,  1888,  Recueil  de  reglements 
relatifs  a  V enseignement  secondaire,  pp.  768-769. 

2  Mass£,  Bourses  nationales,  p.  26,  in  Enquite,  VI. 


174  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

of  these  scholarship  holders:  the  competitive  examination. 
These  two  features  together  with  a  third  emphasized  by 
the  Third  Kepublic,  the  need  of  the  family,  determine  the 
awards  of  these  grants  at  the  present  time. 

The  remission  of  tuition  fees  in  the  secondary  schools 
accorded  the  children  of  primary  and  secondary  teachers  is 
not  looked  upon  as  a  scholarship,  although  the  actual  effects 
in  the  two  cases  are  exactly  the  same.  This  remission  is 
granted  by  right  up  to  the  amount  carried  on  the  budget  for 
that  purpose,1  and  is  dependent  upon  no  examination.  Chil- 
dren of  primary  teachers  receive  free  instruction  as  ordinary 
day  pupils,  and  children  of  secondary  teachers  are  granted 
the  additional  privileges  of  supervised  day  pupils,  although 
the  enjoyment  of  such  grants  in  no  case  precludes  the  possi- 
bility of  the  same  pupils  gaining  regular  scholarships  in 
addition,  in  the  first  instance  as  supervised  day  pupils,  as 
half  boarders,  or  as  full  boarders,  and  in  the  second  instance 
as  half  boarders  or  as  full  boarders. 

As  has  perhaps  been  inferred,  the  scholarships,  whether  pro- 
vided by  the  State,  the  department,  or  the  commune,  fall  into 
four  general  categories  :  (1)  full  board  and  tuition  ;  (2)  half 
board  and  tuition  ;  (3)  tuition  with  the  supervised  study  room 
privileges ;  (4)  simple  tuition ;  although  these  are  often 
awarded  as  wholes  or  as  portions  of  scholarships  as  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  individual  case  render  advisable.  These  are 
granted  in  every  instance  after  competitive  examination,  and 
only  to  those  children  where  the  financial  condition  of  the 
family  justifies  the  grant,  cognizance  being  taken  of  the  ser- 
vices the  family  has  rendered  to  the  nation.  The  depart- 
mental scholarship  holders  are  appointed  by  the  general 
council  of  the  department ;  the  communal  scholarship  hold- 
ers by  the  municipal  council,  with  the  approval  of  the  prefect ; 
and  the  national  scholarship  holders  by  the  Minister  or  the 

1  The  chapter  in  the  budget  for  1908  which  includes  exceptions  granted 
children  of  the  functionaries  of  the  primary  and  secondary  systems,  in  the 
boys'  and  girls'  lycees  and  colleges,  and  the  girls'  secondary  courses  amounts 
to  1,775,200  francs.    Budget  gtniral  de  Z'ea:erace,1908,  chap.  81. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  175 

President  after  the  results  have  been  tabulated  by  a  central 
scholarship  commission. 

The  scholarship  examination  committees  for  the  boys'  lyce*es 
and  colleges  consist  of  an  academy  inspector  and  four  other 
members  appointed  by  the  rector  from  among  the  present  or 
past  professors  of  secondary  or  higher  education.  Modern 
language  professors  may  be  added  temporarily  wherever 
modern  languages  form  a  part  of  the  examination.  The 
examinations  are  held  during  the  first  fortnight  in  April  in 
the  chef -lieu  of  each  department.  The  candidates  fall  into 
one  of  six  series  with  maximum  age  limits  from  twelve  to 
fourteen,  and  sixteen  to  eighteen  inclusive,  respectively,  when 
the  examinations  are  based  upon  the  work  of  the  sixth  to  the 
first  form  inclusive.  The  examinations  are  both  written  and 
oral,  a  mark  of  at  least  twenty  out  of  a  possible  forty  being 
requisite  for  admission  to  the  latter.  The  written  examina- 
tion questions,  formerly  chosen  by  the  departmental  examin- 
ing boards,  are  now  sent  out  by  the  central  commission,  thus 
tending  as  far  as  possible  to  put  all  the  candidates  upon  equal 
footing.  In  the  main,  especially  in  the  second  cycle,  the 
written  examination  bears  upon  the  subjects  which  charac- 
terize the  work  of  the  section  in  question,  while  the  two 
parts  together  cover  practically  all  the  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion in  the  form.  Immediately  at  the  close  of  the  examina- 
tion, the  results  are  tabulated  and  sent  off  to  the  central 
commission  at  Paris.  Every  candidate .  who  receives  half 
the  possible  maximum  is  credited  with  a  certificate  of  attain- 
ment, which,  however,  carries  with  it  no  further  privilege  than 
favorable  consideration  by  the  central  commission.  Eather 
more  than  one  half  of  all  the  applicants  are  eliminated  by 
these  examinations,  but  still  the  task  of  the  commission  is 
by  no  means  easy,  for  they  ordinarily  have  yet  to  eliminate 
nearly  two  thirds  of  the  remainder.  Their  decision  is  based 
upon  two  general  sources  of  information :  the  pupil's  intel- 
lectual potentialities  as  indicated  by  the  examination  he  has 
just  passed,  as  well  as  by  his  entire  school  career  up  to  that 
time  ;  and  upon  the  income,  taxes,  and  the  resources  of  every 


176  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

sort  that  bear  upon  the  ability  of  the  parents  to  support  the 
boy  at  school.  This  latter  question  is  studied  most  exhaust- 
ively, the  regulations  requiring  that  every  statement  con- 
tained therein  be  certified  by  the  mayor  of  the  commune 
where  the  family  lives.  On  the  basis  of  these  two  general 
reports,  the  commission  makes  its  recommendations  to  the 
Minister. 

Even  when  a  scholarship  is  granted,  it  is  awarded  tenta- 
tively for  a  year  unless  the  recipient  has  been  at  the  school 
for  at  least  a  year.  This  trial  scholarship  may  be  renewed 
for  another  year,  but  at  the  expiration  of  that  time  it  lapses 
automatically  unless  it  is  converted  into  a  regular  scholar- 
ship, technically  known  as  a  merit  scholarship.  This  latter, 
if  gained  during  the  first  cycle,  is  valid  until  the  end  of  the 
third  form,  at  which  time  it  may  be  renewed,  provided  the 
holder  has  reached  a  certain  standard  of  excellence  in  his 
work  and  conduct ;  if  gained  during  the  second  cycle,  it  is 
continued  until  the  beneficiary  reaches  nineteen  years  of  age, 
although  in  exceptional  cases  the  grant  may  be  prolonged 
for  a  year,  or  even  longer  after  this  point.  The  judgment  of 
the  commission  is  almost  invariably  borne  out  by  the  subse- 
quent school  life  of  the  pupil,  for  it  is  rare  that  a  scholarship 
is  forfeited,1  and  although  constituting  less  than  six  per  cent 
of  the  entire  public  secondary  school  population,  these  honor 
pupils  invariably  outnumber  their  non-scholarship  classmates 
(sometimes  by  nearly  two  to  one),  in  passing  the  competitive 
examinations  for  appointment  to  the  various  higher  govern- 
ment schools.2  The  number  of  scholarship  holders  in  the 
boys'  secondary  schools  was  1,288  in  1905,  and  1,158  in  1906. 
The  budgets  for  1907  and  1908  each  carried  2,767,000  francs 
for  the  total  amount  of  such  scholarships  in  both  boys'  and 
girls'  schools,3  the  boys'  being  about  five  and  a  half  times  as 

1  For  the  years  1894-96,  less  than  four  tenths  of  one  per  cent  per  annum. 
Mass£,  op.  cit.,  p.  35. 

2  Ibid.,  p.  75. 

8  Budget  de  Vexercice  1908,  chap.  79.     The  annual  appropriation  of  the  city 
of  Paris  for  this  purpose  is  180,000  francs.     Bull,  adm.,  1903,  I.,  p.  181. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  177 

numerous  as  the  girls'.  One  of  the  most  striking  features 
about  the  award  of  these  benefices  is  the  very  large  propor- 
tion of  holders  found  in  families  whose  salaries  are  paid  en- 
tirely from  state  funds.1  Although  composing  a  relatively 
small  proportion  of  the  total  population  of  the  country,  for 
the  last  two  years  at  least  they  have  been  receiving  about 
sixty  per  cent  of  all  the  scholarships  in  the  secondary 
schools,  and  this  entirely  apart  from  the  remission  of  fees 
previously  indicated  as  granted  to  children  of  parents  in  the 
teaching  service  of  the  State. 

There  are,  furthermore,  graduate  honor  scholarships  (fifty 
in  the  Paris  lycdes  and  a  few  more  in  the  most  important 
departmental  lyc^es)  awarded  to  distinguished  pupils  of  the 
smaller  schools,  already  in  possession  of  the  bachelor's  de- 
gree, who  wish  to  go  to  the  larger  lyce'es  to  prepare  for  the 
higher  government  schools.  The  selection  of  these  honor 
pupils  is  made  by  the  head  masters,  but  their  choice  is  re- 
stricted to  the  holders  of  state  scholarships. 

The  school  year  in  France  is  a  long  one,  extending  from 
the  first  of  October  until  the  first  of  August,  broken  by  only 
one  long  vacation,  nearly  two  weeks  at  Easter. 
This  marks  the  end  of  the  second  trimester  of   Holidays  and 

V  fLPflTl OT1  ^ 

the  year,  and  after  that  the  fellows  that  are 
facing  the  baccalaureate  or  a  competitive  examination  at 
the  end  of  the  year  settle  down  for  the  final  struggle.  For 
the  other  pupils,  the  last  third  is  rather  easier  than  the  first 
two,  and  there  is  usually  considerable  opportunity  for  review 
and  clearing  up  of  the  work  of  the  year.  There  are  of 
course  no  classes  on  Sunday,  although  the  boarding  pupils 
have  a  regular  study  period  on  Sunday  morning.  Oppor- 
tunity is  granted  for  church  attendance  if  the  parents  or 
children  so  desire,  but  after  they  have  passed  their  first 
communion  the  number  that  embrace  this  opportunity  is 
practically  a  negligible  quantity.  Thursday  is  the  regular  sec- 
ular holiday.    In  the  morning,  the  pupils  in  the  first  cycle  and 

1  See  Appendix  I  for  occupations  of  parents  of  scholarship  holders 
appointed  in   1906-7. 

12 


178  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

below  are  free  from  all  regular  school  work,  save  for  the 
luckless  youngster  sentenced  to  pay  the  penalty  for  exer- 
cising too  much  initiative  from  the  conduct  point  of  view, 
or  too  little  enterprise  from  the  intellectual  point  of  view. 
For  the  pupils  in  the  second  cycle  often,  and  for  the  can- 
didates preparing  for  the  higher  government  schools  always, 
Thursday  morning  is  as  full  of  class  work  as  any  other  day. 
In  fact  some  of  these  latter  fellows  are  going  at  such  a  pace 
that  it  is  a  wonder  they  have  any  time  to  assimilate  the 
work  they  are  doing.  Some  of  the  prospective  engineering 
students  have  thirty-four,  thirty-five,  and  thirty-six  hours  of 
class  work  per  week.  The  press  of  work  with  them  cer- 
tainly must  be  fearful. 

On  Thursday  afternoon,  all  class  work  is  suspended,  and 
the  boarding  pupils  have  their  regular  supervised  promenade. 
This  is  a  most  formal  occasion  when  the  boys  in  their  blue 
uniforms  march  about  in  solemn  procession  indulging  in 
nothing  more  frivolous  than  a  subdued  conversation.  Some- 
times they  go  for  a  walk  in  the  country,  sometimes  they  are 
conducted  to  a  neighboring  museum,  but  they  never  escape 
the  watchful  eye  of  the  censor  or  his  duly  authorized  repre- 
sentative. Some  head  masters  are  liberal  enough  to  allow 
their  pupils  to  play  a  game  of  football  at  this  time,  and  a 
very,  very  few  so  far  depart  from  hoary  tradition  as  to  allow 
their  boys  to  go  off  by  twos  or  threes  and  trust  them  to  re- 
turn at  the  appointed  hour.  But  woe  unto  the  master  if  by 
any  chance  an  accident  should  happen  to  one  of  the  pupils 
during  this  half  holiday !  Aside  from  the  Easter  vacation 
there  is  no  class  work  on  the  regular  legal  holidays:  All 
Saints'  Day,  Christmas,  New  Year's,  Pentecost,  Ascension 
Day,  and  July  14th,  the  national  holiday.  The  rector  may 
designate  not  more  than  eight  special  supplementary  holi- 
days in  the  course  of  the  year.  These  are  ordinarily  used  up 
in  a  few  extra  days  at  New  Year's  and  at  Easter.  One 
misses  the  regular  Christmas  vacation,  so  dear  to  the  Ameri- 
can and  English  schoolboy,  but  in  France  the  holiday  season 
is  connected  with  New  Year's  rather  than  Christmas.     This 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  179 

program  gives  a  school  year  of  about  one  hundred  and 
ninety-five  days,  or  slightly  in  excess  of  the  figures  for 
American  cities  of  over  eight  thousand  inhabitants.1 

In  France,  during  the  past  few  years,  there  has  been  a 
movement  on  foot  to  increase  the  length  of  the  long  vaca- 
tion. While  nominally  leaving  the  dates  of  the  beginning 
and  ending  of  the  vacation  unchanged  the  professors  could 
be  required  to  cover  the  subjects  required  by  the  program 
before  July  14th,  and  the  parents  might  then  be  authorized 
to  withdraw  their  children  at  that  date.  A  motion  to  this 
effect  passed  the  lower  house  more  than  four  years  ago,2  and 
it  is  likely  to  be  put  into  effect  before  long. 

Although  the  life  is  not  so  severe  as  it  was  in  the  Middle 
Ages  when  the  classes  gathered  in  the  old  rue  du  Fouarre  as 
early  as  half  past  four  in  the  morning,  yet  even 
to-day  everybody  in  a  French  lycde  gets  an  pr0gram. 
early  start.3  Eising  comes  in  summer  at  five 
o'clock,  or  at  the  latest  half  past  five,  and  in  winter  half  an 
hour  later.  I  have  even  found  schools  where  the  candidates 
for  the  higher  schools  as  the  time  for  the  competitive  exam- 
inations drew  near  were  out  of  bed  as  much  as  an  hour 
earlier  and  hard  at  work  over  their  books.  The  worst  feat- 
ure about  this  early  rising  is  the  long  work  period  on  an 
empty  stomach,  but  even  the  regulation  time  is  long,  and 
there  is  always  a  study  period  of  at  least  a  full  hour  before 
breakfast.  The  breakfast,  which  comes  at  seven  or  quarter 
past,  is  the  typical  French  frugal  first  breakfast  —  a  cup  of 
coffee  (sometimes  chocolate)  and  bread,  with  butter  occa- 
sionally. This  latter  is  a  luxury  afforded  only  by  some  of 
the  largest  schools.  After  breakfast  comes  the  first  .recrea- 
tion period  of  the  day  which  lasts  until  the  beginning  of  the 
morning  class  at  eight  o'clock.     The  program  for  the  little 

1  Average  length  of  school  term  in  American  cities  of  over  eight  thousand 
inhabitants,  189.3  days.     Rep.  Com.  Ed.,  1908,  I.,  p.  417. 

2  Annuaire  de  la  jeunesse,  1907,  p.  217. 

8  See  Appendix  H  for  daily  programs  at  Lycee  Louis-le-Grand  in  1769  and 
1874. 


180  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

fellows  in  the  elementary  classes  usually  runs  about  half  an 
hour  behind  this  of  the  older  boys. 

Between  bedtime  the  night  before  and  the  beginning  of 
the  after  breakfast  recreation  period,  at  which  moment  they 
are  turned  over  to  the  general  surveillants,  the  boys  have 
been  in  charge  of  the  dormitory  surveillants.  These  latter, 
often  little  older  than  the  upper  form  boys  themselves,  sleep 
in  the  dormitories,  watch  over  the  pupils  during  their  morn- 
ing ablutions,  conduct  them  to  the  study  room,  supervise 
them  during  the  first  study  period  and  during  the  break- 
fast. The  dormitory  surveillants,  barring  the  fact  that  they 
ordinarily  have  to  divide  the  supervision  during  the  midday 
meal,  are  free  from  breakfast  time  until  the  evening  meal. 

Eight  o'clock  sees  every  boy  in  the  school  hard  at  work 
in  his  class  room, — that  is,  if  his  teacher  has  arrived;  other- 
wise the  class  stands  waiting  outside  the  door,  for  nobody 
would  think  of  entering,  even  if  the  door  were  open,  without 
direction  from  the  teacher.  The  ordinary  situation  of  the 
class  rooms  on  the  ground  floor  around  a  big  open  court  makes 
this  a  simple  matter ;  then  the  censor  or  the  general  surveil- 
lants can  tell  at  a  glance  if  any  teacher  has  not  appeared, 
and  provision  may  thus  be  made  for  taking  care  of  the  class. 
In  the  larger  schools,  where  the  number  of  pupils  justifies 
more  than  one  section  of  a  given  class,  the  boarding  pupils 
are  kept  by  themselves,  or  at  least  are  joined  with  the  half 
boarders,  while  the  externes  are  set  off  in  another  group.  The 
dilatory  fellow  has  an  uncomfortable  time  of  it.  He  must 
seek  a  written  order  from  the  censor  before  being  allowed  to 
join  his  class.  The  first  offence  is  not  very  severely  dealt 
with,  especially  if  it  is  a  question  of  two  or  three  minutes, 
but  old  offenders  are  shown  little  consideration,  and  it  usu- 
ally means  an  hour  or  more  of  work  at  school  on  a  half- 
holiday. 

Nine  o'clock  marks  the  end  of  the  first  period,  and  the 
boys  swarm  out  into  the  courts  for  a  five-minute  recreation. 
With  the  little  fellows  this  is  ordinarily  stretched  to  ten 
minutes,  and  they  chase  each  other  about  the  playground  as 


THE  SCHOOL  AND   ITS  LIFE  181 

a  lot  of  American  boys  would  do,  but  the  youngsters  that 
have  reached  the  dignity  of  the  sixth  form  take  their  pleas- 
ure in  a  much  milder  fashion.  French  classmates  of  twelve 
or  thirteen  and  upward  greet  each  other  in  the  morning 
with  as  grave  a  handshake  as  though  they  were  men  grown. 
The  older  boys  march  sedately  about  the  court  by  twos 
and  threes  or  stand  in  small  groups  conversing  quietly 
together. 

At  the  end  of  this  short  intermission  period  they  are  back 
in  their  same  class  rooms  again  with  the  same  teacher  as 
before.  Until  the  reform  of  1902  the  regular  duration  of  a 
"class"  was  two  hours,  and  the  present  program  has  simply 
cut  five  or  ten  minutes  out  of  the  middle  for  a  breathing 
spell.  The  distribution  of  subjects  makes  such  an  arrange- 
ment very  easy,  for  one  teacher  has  all  the  Greek,  Latin,  and 
French  in  a  given  form,  another  the  history  and  geography, 
another  the  mathematics,  and  another  the  physical  sciences 
(which  always  include  chemistry).  Thus  the  first  hour  may 
be  devoted  to  Latin  and  the  second  to  French,  the  first  to 
history  and  the  second  to  geography.  The  two  morning 
hours  from  eight  to  ten,  and  the  two  afternoon  hours  from 
two  to  four,  or  from  half  past  two  until  half  past  four,  are 
regularly  occupied  in  this  manner.  At  ten  o'clock  there  is  a 
fifteen-minute  recreation  period.  The  third  morning  hour, 
and  in  the  large  schools  where  the  program  is  much  con- 
gested, the  first  afternoon  period  from  half  past  one  to  half 
past  two  are  devoted  to  single-hour  subjects  like  modern 
languages,  arithmetic  in  the  lower  forms,  natural  science, 
and  laboratory  work. 

At  the  close  of  the  morning  class  work,  the  ordinary  day 
pupils  go  to  their  homes,  not  to  return  again  until  their  first 
afternoon  lesson.  All  the  others  gather  in  their  respective 
study  rooms,  where  they  work  under  the  charge  of  the  tutors 
(repetiteurs)  until  luncheon  time.  These  study  rooms  are 
no  whit  different  from  ordinary  class  rooms  save  for  the  row 
of  book  lockers  around  the  walls.  In  some  of  the  city  schools 
the  advanced  mathematics  students  are  fortunate  enough  to 


182  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

possess  a  good-sized  table  and  an  individual  bit  of  black- 
board for  scratch  work.  In  these  upper  study  rooms  the 
tutor  is  little  more  than  a  monitor,  but  with  the  smaller  boys 
he  is  a  real  tutor,  looking  after  them  carefully  to  see  that 
their  tasks  are  completed,  helping  them  when  they  are  in 
difficulty,  and  even  hearing  their  memory  work.  In  some 
respects  this  relieves  the  regular  teacher  of  much  of  the 
drudgery  and  allows  him  to  spend  more  of  his  time  in  teach- 
ing, for  he  has  to  concern  himself  with  the  memory  work  of 
the  ordinary  day  pupils  only. 

Luncheon  or  dinner  time,  as  the  case  may  be,  which  comes 
at  noon  or  half  past  twelve,  sees  the  supervised  day  pupils 
away,  and  only  the  boarders  and  the  half  boarders  are  left. 
This  midday  meal  is  the  first  hearty  repast  of  the  day,  con- 
sisting usually  of  an  hors  d'oeuvre,  a  meat  course,  a  vegetable, 
cheese  or  dessert,  with  a  bottle  of  wine1  for  every  four  boys, 
and  as  much  bread  as  they  want  to  eat.2  The  marble  top 
tables  (a  tablecloth  is  an  almost  unheard-of  luxury),  together 
with  the  tiled  floors,  give  the  refectories  a  bare  and  cheerless 
look  that  is  far  from  homelike.  About  the  only  redeeming 
feature  in  the  general  appearance  of  these  dining  rooms  is 
the  scrupulous  cleanliness  that  universally  prevails.  A  few 
years  ago  there  were  many  complaints  about  the  character  of 
the  board  furnished  at  some  of  the  lyc^es  and  colleges,  but 
to-day  I  believe  it  is  everywhere  above  reproach. 

Between  the  end  of  luncheon  and  half  past  one  is  one  of 
the  chief  recreation  periods  of  the  day.  At  this  time,  as  well 
as  during  the  other  recreation  hour  after  the  afternoon  classes, 
the  parents  of  the  boarding  pupils  may  call  and  see  their 
children  in  the  school  parlor.  This  is  a  real  play  period  for 
everybody.  The  older  boys  are  often  playing  tennis  or 
handball  (wall-ball,  as  the  French  call  it),  and  the  younger 
ones  divert  themselves  with  a  kind  of  old-fashioned  scrub 
football,  tag,  marbles,    or   the   various    purposeless    romp- 

1  In  the  extreme  North  this  wine  is  replaced  by  beer,  and  in  the  West  by 
cider,  according  to  the  drink  of  the  country. 

2  For  a  specimen  menu  see  Appendix  J. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  183 

ings  that  serve  to  amuse  the  children  of  every  country  and 
clime. 

There  are  two  hours  of  regular  class  work  in  the  afternoon ; 
then  a  hasty  luncheon,  ordinarily  of  bread  and  fruit,  at  four 
o'clock.  At  this  time  comes  the  principal  recreation  of  the 
day.  Extra  lessons,  such  as  those  on  the  piano  or  other 
musical  instruments,  gymnastics,  dancing,  boxing,  fencing, 
and  riding,  must  all  be  taken  during  these  recreation  periods. 
After  this  the  older  boys  have  three  hours  of  study,  some- 
times straightaway  and  sometimes  broken  by  an  hour  for 
dinner.  The  evening  meal  comes  at  seven  or  eight,  accord- 
ing to  the  circumstances  just  indicated,  and  by  nine  o'clock, 
or  half  past  at  the  latest,  everybody  is  in  bed. 

It  has  been  a  hard  day,  and  at  least  from  the  American 
point  of  view  an  inordinately  long  one,  but  it  is  somewhat 
easier  than  it  used  to  be.  In  1890,  the  Minister  of  Public 
Instruction  cut  down  the  working  school  day  by  fixing  the 
maximum  number  of  hours  of  sedentary  labor  at  six  for  the 
primary  and  elementary  divisions,  at  eight  for  the  grammar 
division,  and  at  ten  or  ten  and  a  half  for  the  upper  classes 
of  the  secondary  course.  At  the  same  time  he  regretted  his 
inability  to  fix  any  similar  limits  for  the  pupils  preparing 
for  the  higher  government  schools.  "The  average  day  of 
the  schoolboy  then,"  he  went  on  to  say,  "  will  vary  between 
fourteen  and  sixteen  hours,  the  rest  of  the  time  being 
devoted  to  physical  exercise's,  to  recreations,  to  meals, 
etc."1 

This  is  the  regular  program  for  every  day  except  Thurs- 
day and  Sunday.  On  the  morning  of  the  former  the  smaller 
boys  have  a  fairly  free  half  holiday,  that  is,  barring  the  fact 
that  they  have  some  lesson  to  make  up  or  some  punishment 
to  work  off,  while  for  the  three  upper  forms  and  for  all  the 
candidates  for  the  higher  government  schools  the  program 
goes  on  just  as  before.  In  the  afternoon,  all  the  boarding 
pupils  go  out  for  a  long  walk  under  the  direction  of  the 
censor   or  his   assistants.     Sunday  afternoon  is  spent  in  a 

1  Circ,  July  7,  1890,  Bee.  des  reg.,  p.  716. 


184  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

similar  fashion  unless  the  boy  is  fortunate  enough  to  escape 
entirely  from  the  restrictions  of  the  school  life  and  spend 
the  day  with  his  family  or  his  friends. 

When  the   boy   first   enters  the  lyce*e,  he  is  assigned   a 

number  which  conceals  his  identity  in   practically  all  his 

relations   with   the   school   outside   the   class 

School  °Life?  room  until  his  connection  therewith  is  termi- 
nated. His  caps,  his  clothes,  his  bed,  his  wash 
basin,  his  napkin  ring,  in  fact  everything  he  has  or  uses  is 
marked  with  this  number.  He  has  absolutely  no  privacy 
any  more  than  if  he  were  a  common  soldier  living  in 
barracks.  There  is  no  place  he  can  call  his  own,  and  he  can 
never  be  by  himself.  He  is  in  the  dormitory,  the  refectory, 
the  study  room,  the  class  room,  or  on  the  playground,  and 
in  any  case  he  is  surrounded  by  fifteen  or  twenty  others. 
This  whole  system  forces  the  boy  to  live  a  collective  rather 
than  an  individual  life,  which  savors  strongly  of  the  orphan 
asylum  if  not  of  the  penitentiary,  or,  to  use  a  more  euphe- 
mistic word  which  the  French  critics  prefer,  of  the 
barracks.1  The  time  is  practically  all  planned  out  for  him 
from  ten  o'clock  on  Sunday  night  until  eight  o'clock  on 
the  following  Sunday  morning.  He  rises  by  the  clock, 
he  washes  by  the  clock,  he  eats  by  the  clock,  he  studies 
by  the  clock,  he  plays  by  the  clock,  he  goes  to  bed  by 
the  clock.  It  would  be  interesting  to  know  what  would 
happen  if  he  could  not  sleep -by  the  clock.  His  incomings 
and  his  outgoings  take  place  only  at  stated  times  and 
at  fixed  intervals,  always  near  the  watchful  eye  of  some 
mentor.  As  long  as  he  is  within  the  school,  he  is  practi- 
cally cut  off  from  all  contact  with  the  outside  world.  There 
are  no  newspapers  for  him  to  read ;  his  mail  is  all  minutely 
scrutinized  to  make  sure  that  it  bears  the  signature  of  parent 
or  recognized  correspondent ;  and  it  is  a  serious  breach 
of  the  regulations  if  one  of  his  fellow  pupils  is  detected 
in  performing  any  commission  for  him  on  the  outside. 
In  fact  he  has  little  or  no  money  to  spend  even  if  he  could 

1  See  also  Demolins,  A  quoi  tient  la  sup6riorit6  des  Anglo-Saxons,  p.  7. 


THE  SCHOOL  AND  ITS  LIFE  185 

persuade  one  of  his  classmates  to  violate  the  rules  for 
him,  for  his  parents  make  a  deposit  with  the  bursar  and  give 
that  official  directions  as  to  the  amount  of  his  advances 
to  the  boys.  The  authorities  request  that  this  allowance 
shall  not  exceed  two  francs  per  week,  and  the  gate-keeper's 
supply  of  sweets  provides  ample  opportunity  for  the  expend- 
iture of  this  meagre  pocket  money.  He  has  no  time  that 
he  can  call  his  own,  and  consequently  he  is  not  encouraged 
or  even  allowed  to  plan  out  his  work  for  himself.  So 
far  as  my  observations  and  inquiries  go  there  is  an  entire 
absence  of  all  that  training  to  fit  a  young  man  to  meet 
situations,  to  handle  his  fellows,  that  the  athletic  activities 
and  the  freer  atmosphere  of  our  own  institutions  do  so  much 
to  encourage.  The  very  great  majority  of  secondary  school 
men  believe  that  they  cannot  safely  grant  their  boys 
any  more  liberties,  and  the  small  minority  of  head  masters 
that  hold  other  views  and  would  like  to  give  their  boys 
more  freedom  are  restrained  by  peculiar  conditions.  In 
other  words,  in  case  of  accident  while  the  boy  is  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  school  authorities,  whether  on  the 
playground  or  on  an  excursion,  the  State  is  liable  for 
damages.  If  no  school  officer  happened  to  be  present, 
the  head  master  himself  may  be  sued  for  negligence  in  this 
respect.  During  the  past  twenty  years  the  increasing 
activity  of  numerous  unscrupulous  lawyers  in  pushing  such 
cases  upon  contingent  fees  has  gone  far  to  make  the  masters 
perhaps  over  cautious,  and  has  seriously  retarded  the  growth 
of  any  tendency  toward  reducing  the  strictness  of  the 
surveillance  that  might  otherwise  have  been  in  evidence. 
The  superior  authority  has  thus  far  declined  to  relieve 
the  masters  of  this  responsibility ;  hence  the  few  instances 
where  the  pupils  have  any  real  freedom  are  all  the  more 
noticeable  by  their  rarity.  The  life  of  the  French  secondary 
school  is  thus  a  most  restricted  and  unreal  sort  of  an 
existence  where  the  absence  of  spontaneity  and  individuality 
commands  a  high  premium.  It  is  not  surprising  then  to 
an  Anglo-Saxon  that  when  the  French  boy  quits  the  lyce*e 


186  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

precincts  and  realizes  that  he  is  no  longer  bound  by  the 
restrictions  of  his  school  life,  he  has  less  self-control, 
less  poise,  less  executive  skill,  and  in  general  is  less  able 
to  solve  the  problems  he  is  called  upon  to  face  than  are  the 
English  or  American  boys  of  the  same  age. 


CHAPTER  IX 

FRENCH  AND  THE  CLASSICS 

At  first  sight  it  seems  a  bit  strange  to  link  the  dead  classics 
and  the  living  French  together,  but  it  becomes  perfectly 
clear  when  we  recall  that  the  instruction  in  the  mother 
tongue  is  invariably  intrusted  to  the  teacher  of  the  classics, 
that  is,  of  course,  from  the  sixth  form  upward.  Although 
this  is  unquestionably  a  relic  of  the  old  regime,  and  the 
vernacular  has  long  had  a  place  for  itself  among  the  recog- 
nized subjects  of  secondary  study,  occasionally  one  finds  an 
echo  of  the  past  like  the  following:  "I  believe  that  the 
special  study  of  the  French  language  and  literature  ought  not 
to  figure  in  the  program  during  the  first  two  periods  of  sec- 
ondary instruction.  .  .  .  The  mother  tongue  is  the  vehicle  of 
all  other  subjects  of  instruction ;  it  is  necessarily  learned  sim- 
ultaneously with  them." *  It  is  likewise  worth  noting  that 
on  the  program  in  force  at  the  time  of  the  adoption  of  the 
present  program  in  1902,  French  was  not  assigned  a  special 
number  of  hours  per  week,  but  French  and  the  classics  re- 
ceived thirteen  hours  among  them  in  each  of  the  first  three 
years  of  the  secondary  course  proper  and  twelve  in  the  next 
three. 

In  the  days  of  the  early  colleges,  Latin  was  everything. 
Little  else  was  taught  and  the  few  other  subjects  were  all 
acquired  through  the  Roman  tongue.    Scholars 
wrote  it,  scholars  spoke  it ;  it  was  the  medium      EJ ?]??on 
of  diplomacy  as  well  as  of  theological  dispute ; 
it  was  the  universal  language  of  the  literary  world.     What 

1  Maneuvrier,  L' Education  de  la  bourgeoisie  sous  la  rtpubliquc,  3rae  ed., 
1888,  p.  115. 


188  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

more  natural  than  that  it  should  monopolize  the  instruction 
in  the  schools  that  trained  men  for  these  professions ! 1 
Nearly  four  hundred  years  after  the  founding  of  the  univer- 
sity, only  a  bold  spirit  dared  attempt  to  teach  in  anything 
but  this  time-honored  language.  Under  the  Ratio  stu- 
diorum  of  the  Jesuits,  no  one  of  the  classes  had  more  than  a 
half  hour  in  the  morning  and  an  equal  length  of  time  in  the 
afternoon  for  all  the  instruction  in  the  mother  tongue.  The 
vernacular  occupied  relatively  about  the  same  proportion  of 
the  program  of  the  Port-Koyalists,  and  hardly  more  in  the 
university  schools  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centu- 
ries, so  far  as  we  can  judge  from  Eollin.  In  the  meantime 
the  Greek  had  made  but  little  headway.  Eesuscitated  by 
the  Eenaissance,  it  was  still  regarded  as  a  mark  of  culture 
rather  than  an  indispensable  tool.  The  Eevolution  swept 
away  the  university  as  well  as  the  colleges  that  had  sur- 
vived the  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits,  and  practically  all  the 
classical  learning  disappeared  at  the  same  time.  The  little 
that  was  left  in  the  so-called  Central  Schools  is  hardly  to  be 

v  taken  seriously.  In  re-establishing  the  secondary  schools, 
Napoleon  founded  them  on  a  basis  of  Latin  and  mathemat- 
ics :    "  Latin   because   it   was   customary ;   mathematics  be- 

1  cause  he  had  been  an  artillery  officer."  2  With  the  passing 
of  Napoleon  the  Latin  quite  dispossessed  its  only  serious 
rival  and  reassumed  much  of  its  former  glory,  so  that  one 
might  truly  have  said  according  to  popular  ideas,  "  without 
Latin,  there  is  no  secondary  instruction."  This  "  popular 
notion  "  as  expressing  the  inertia  of  ^tradition  is  undoubtedly 
largely  responsible  for  the  influence  that  Latin  exerts  even 
to-day.  The  modifications  that  have  taken  place  from  time 
to  time  show  the  efforts  of  the  classicists  to  harmonize  the 
force  of  this  tradition  with  the  needs  of  our  modern  society. 

1  The  cash  account  of  one  M.  Filley  de  la  Barre,  1706-1728,  throws 
some  light  on  the  preponderance  of  Latin  instruction  at  the  College  Louis- 
le-Grand  in  the  early  part  of  the  eighteenth  century,  at  that  time  the  most 
prominent  of  the  Jesuit  colleges,  as  well  as  upon  the  manners  and  customs 
of  some  of  the  younger  students.     See  Appendix  F. 

2  Frary,  La  question  du  latin,  p.  45. 


FRENCH  AND  THE  CLASSICS  189 

We  are  becoming  more  and  more  convinced  that  questions 
of  education  and  so  of  program  depend  upon  something 
more  substantial  than  sentiment  and  tradition.  They  are 
vitally  and  indissolubly  embodied  in  the  progress  of  society, 
in  its  material  and  intellectual  and  spiritual  advancement. 
The  old  Latin  was  really  the  most  intrinsically  useful  of 
subjects,  for  it  was  the  passport  for  the  church  and  the  other 
professions,  for  a  diplomatic  career,  or  for  polite  society. 
With  the  evolution  of  our  intellectual  and  industrial  life 
it  has  lost  nearly  if  not  all  of  that  characteristic.1  Intel- 
lectually its  absolute  value  has  remained  constant,  for  time 
has  brought  no  tarnish  to  the  nobility  of  its  thought  or  the 
beauty  of  its  expression,  but  its  recent  loss  of  prestige  is 
practically  due  to  the  recognition  that  its  relative  position 
has  been  considerably  changed.  The  very  close  fundamen- 
tal relation  between  the  French  language  and  the  Latin  has 
been  a  potent  factor  in  preventing  the  more  rapid  spread  of 
this  modifying  tendency,  and  if  it  ever  comes  to  a  crisis  will 
probably  be  powerful  enough  to  save  the  latter.  On  this 
account  the  position  of  Latin  must  always  be  relatively 
stronger  in  France  than  in  any  of  the  Teutonic  or  the  Anglo- 
Saxon  countries. 

The  day  of  Greek  as  an  essential  instrument  of  general 
culture  has  plainly  passed  in  France,  for  whereas  the  former 
inequality  of  privilege,  as  far  as   further  uni- 
versity professional  study  was  concerned,  that      0f  Greek!8 
existed  between  the  old  baccalaureates,  practi- 
cally made  Greek  compulsory,  the  new  program  has  changed 
all  that.     Indeed,  Greek  enthusiasts  are  relieved  that  they 
did  not  fare  worse.     As  one  of  the  leaders  said : "  The  new 
programs  have  restricted  the  part  given  to  Greek  in  second- 
ary work,  but  they  finally  recognized  its  right  to  live,  and 
we  can  hope  its  existence  will  not  be  discussed,  at  least  for 

1  Yet  the  question  of  Latin  as  the  future  international  language  was  on 
the  program  for  serious  discussion  at  the  Primo  Congresso  internazionale 
latino  at  Rome  in  the  spring  of  1903.  » 

Cf.  also  Andr£,  Dans  quelle  mesure  se  sert-on  encore  du  latin  ?  In  Revue 
Internationale  de  I'enseignemcnt,  1902,  II.,  pp.,  503-512. 


190  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

some  time. " *  Former  classical  scholars  generally,  unless 
their  judgment  is  warped  by  prejudice  or  by  their  own  close 
connection  with  its  instruction  at  the  present  time,  are  free 
to  admit  that  Greek  is  practically  dead.  Many  are  frank 
enough  to  recognize  that  the  day  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
Greek  will  have  disappeared  entirely  from  the  colleges  and 
will  be  found  only  in  the  larger  lyc£es.  Indeed,  I  came 
across  a  reasonably  important  provincial  lyc^e  where  only 
eight  of  the  three  hundred  and  twenty  boys  in  the  school 
were  studying  Greek,  and  the  two  boys  in  the  beginning 
class  this  year  had  both  begun  the  language  in  a  private 
school  and  were  continuing  it  here  in  order  not  to  lose  the 
time  they  had  already  spent  upon  it.  Instances  like  the 
lyc^e  at  Dijon,  where  Greek  still  enjoys  much  of  its  former 
prestige,  thanks  in  large  measure  to  the  personal  influence 
and  the  good  teaching  of  the  professor  in  the  beginning  class, 
serve  only  to  throw  the  ordinary  situation  into  stronger 
relief.  On  the  other  hand,  some  teachers  are  rejoiced  to 
find  a  decided  improvement  in  the  quality  of  their  Greek 
pupils.  This  change  for  the  better  is  not  at  all  surprising, 
for  now  that  Greek  is  an  optional  study  it  has  been  able 
to  throw  off  that  dead  weight  of  pupils  who  took  it  with 
absolutely  no  interest  in  the  subject  matter,  but  merely  be- 
cause they  could  not  get  a  regular  baccalaureate  without  it. 
In  other  words  the  avenue  toward  the  most  desirable  govern- 
ment preferment  led  through  the  Greek  gateway. 

A  study  of  the  new  program   suggests   that  the  classi- 
cists may  have  sacrificed  their  deck  load  of  Greek  in  order  to 
save  their  cargo  of  Latin,  although   it  might 

EthTckssTcr  not  be  easF  t0  find  one  who  would  admit  this-2 
In  the    former  program   it  was  the  classical 

course  with  both  Latin  and   Greek  versus  the  "  modern " 

course  without  either  of  the  ancient  languages.     The  new 

program  during  the  first  cycle  ostensibly  offers  the  same 

i  Croiset,    M.     in    Revue  Internationale  de   I ' ' enseignement,    1903,    II., 
p.  19. 

2  Cf.  also  Lanson,  L' university  et  la  socUt6  moderne,   p.  43. 


FRENCH  AND  THE  CLASSICS  191 

choice,  but  when  we  come  to  the  fourth  and  third  forms  there 
are  practically  three  options :  (1)  the  old  classical  course ;  (2) 
the  old  modern  course,  both  with  certain  modifications ;  and 
(3)  the  classical  course  without  Greek.  Here  the  three  hours 
of  Greek  are  replaced  by  two  additional  hours  of  the  modern 
language  already  begun,  and  one  hour  of  drawing.  The  last 
named  course  by  implication  would  appear  to  be  the  normal 
division  A  course,  for  according  to  the  official  program, 
"  the  pupils  who  take  Greek  will  be  relieved  from  three  hours 
of  class  work,  two  taken  from  the  time  assigned  to  modern 
languages  and  one  from  drawing."  While  the  old  program 
offered  a  perfectly  free  choice  between  the  classical  and  the 
modern  courses,  the  lack  of  official  sanction  offered  the  latter, 
by  which  the  holders  of  its  baccalaureate  were  eliminated 
from  the  bar  and  many  other  walks  of  professional  life, 
forced  practically  all  except  the  prospective  engineers  to 
select  the  traditional  course  with  both  Greek  and  Latin. 
The  reform  program  has  abolished  this  former  inequality, 
as  far  as  official  regulations  can  do  so,  by  placing  both  bacca- 
laureates upon  the  same  footing  with  reference  to  undertak- 
ing future  professional  careers,  or  rather  by  establishing  only 
one  baccalaureate  with  mention  of  philosophy  or  math- 
ematics, together  with  whichever  of  the  four  sections  they 
came  under  at  the  first  part  of  their  examination.  But 
whereas  under  the  old  dispensation  there  was  but  a  single 
course  that  led  to  the  baccalaureate,  under  the  present 
conditions  there  are  four,  with  Latin  as  one  of  the  important 
subjects  in  three  out  of  the  four  courses.  It  is  interesting 
to  learn,  moreover,  that  when  Greek  has  to  stand  on  its  own 
merits,  so  to  speak,  it  no  longer  maintains  its  hold  on  the  in- 
tellectual leaders  of  the  class,  for  although  the  present  form 
of  examination  in  the  old  classical  course  is  admittedly  the 
easiest  of  the  four  in  the  first  part  of  the  baccalaureate,  more 
than  once  I  have  found  the  strongest  pupils  in  the  class  to 
be  in  the  Latin-science  section. 

Instruction  in  Latin  which  from  time  almost  immemorial 
had  been  a  part  of  the  course  in  the  elementary  section  of 


192  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  lyce*es  and  colleges  was  eliminated  from  the  work  of  the 

lower  classes  by  the  program  that  went  into  effect  in  1880, 

Latin  and     and   since  that  time  has  been  begun  in  the 

Greek  in  the  sixth  form.  Five  years  later  the  single  hour 
assigned  to  Latin  and  Greek  was  cut  out 
of  the  philosophy  form,  and  since  that  date  it  has  conse- 
quently been  found  in  the  first  six  years  of  the  secondary 
course,  properly  speaking,  or  according  to  the  present  class 
nomenclature,  from  the  sixth  to  the  first  form  inclusive.  As 
has  previously  been  indicated,  the  program  of  1902  cut 
down  the  number  of  week  hours  for  Latin  in  every  form  ex- 
cept the  second.  Beginning  Greek,  which  was  formerly  found 
in  the  sixth  form,  was  changed  to  the  fourth  form  by  the 
program  of  1880,  only  to  be  pushed  back  three  quarters  of 
a  year  into  the  fifth  form  five  years  later,  and  again  subse- 
quently restored  to  the  fourth  form.  The  present  situation, 
therefore,  in  the  classical  course  of  the  secondary  school 
gives  a  boy  six  years  of  Latin  and  four  of  Greek  with  an 
optional  year  of  each  in  the  philosophy  form. 

The  following  are  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  courses 
for  the  lyc^es  and  colleges  in  accordance  with  the  present 
regulations  : 

SIXTH  FORM 

Latin,  7  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work 
from,  Latin  authors.  (The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  year's  work.)  Latin  grammar.  Latin  composition, 
written  and  oral.    Written  translations  (from  the  Latin). 

Programs  of  Instruction.  Regular  declensions  and  conjuga- 
tions. (Both  these  are  begun  simultaneously  so  as  to  introduce  the 
pupils  as  soon  as  possible  to  the  elements  of  the  complete  sentence.) 

Short  sight  exercises  of  translation  from  French  to  Latin  and  from 
Latin  to  French.  (The  teacher  will  read  slowly  a  sentence  in  French  or 
in  Latin  wherein  all  the  words  are  known,  and  have  the  pupils  translate 
it  orally  or  in  writing.) 

Authors.  Selection  of  easy  graded  texts.  Epitome  Historiae  graecae 
(simple,  graded  edition).    Viri  Romae  (2d  semester). 

French,  3  hours.  Division  A.  Reading  and  interpretation  of,  and 
memory  work  from,  French  authors.  Grammar,  syntax,  language  work, 
and  spelling.  Simple  oral  and  written  composition.  (Rules  are  to  be 
taught  chiefly  by  use.    The  teacher  will  let  no  opportunity  slip  to  re- 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  193 

mind  the  pupils  that  they  should  learn  the  rules  instinctively.  Hence 
he  will  constantly  base  his  instruction  on  the  examples  drawn  from  the 
written  or  spoken  language  of  the  pupils.  The  object  of  grammatical 
study  is  to  formulate  in  precise  statements  the  rules  drawn  from  ex- 
perience.) 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics. 
Selected  stories  of  the  prose  writers  and  the  poets  of  the  Middle  Ages 
put  in  modern  French.  La  Fontaine,  Fables  (first  six  books).  Fenelon, 
Telemaque.  Buffon,  selected  descriptions.  Selections  from  nineteenth 
century  poets. 

French,  5  hours.  Division  B.  [Program  similar  to  that  above. 
This  being  the  non-classical  division  more  emphasis  is  put  upon  the 
grammar.    Also  considerably  more  memory  work.] 2 

Authors.1  Reading,  explanation,  and  memory  work.  [The  same 
list  of  authors  as  above,  with  the  addition  of  stories  from  the  prose 
writers  of  the  nineteenth  century.] 

FIFTH  FORM 

Latin,  7  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work 
from,  Latin  authors.  (The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  year's  work.)  Latin  grammar,  Latin  composition, 
written  and  oral.    Written  translations  (from  the  Latin). 

Program  of  Instruction.  Review  of  the  grammar.  Regular  and 
irregular  declensions  and  conjugations.  First  principles  of  syntax, 
agreement;  principal  uses  of  the  cases;  complements;  principal  and 
subordinate  clauses. 

Arrangement  of  words  by  families.  Root  words,  derivatives,  and 
words  in  composition. 

Sight  translation  from  French  to  Latin. 

Reading  and  translation  of  authors,  at  sight  or  prepared. 

Comparison  of  the  Latin  and  the  French  construction  based  upon 
examples  taken  from  the  texts  read. 

Reproduction  from  memory  of  selections  read  and  translated  in  the 
class. 

Authors.  Viri  Romae  (1st  semester).  Historical  selections  from 
secular  history.  Nepos  (2d  semester).  Phaedrus,  selected  fables  (2d 
semester) .    Justin,  extracts. 

FIFTH  FORM 

French,  3  hours.  Division  A.  [Program  similar  to  that  of  the 
sixth  form  above.] 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics. 
Selected  stories  from  the  prose  writers  and  the  poets  of  the  Middle  Ages, 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  be  explained  in  class. 

2  The  [         ]  indicate  the  author's  summary  of  the  official  text. 

13 


194  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

put  in  modern  French.  Selected  scenes  from  Corneille  and  Moliere. 
Racine,  Esther.  La  Fontaine,  Fables  (first  six  books).  Fenelon,  Tele- 
maque.  Buffon,  selected  descriptions.  Stories  from  the  prose  writers 
of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  (Lesage,  Voltaire,  etc.). 
Selections  from  the  nineteenth  century  poets. 

French,  5  hours.  Division  B.  [Program  similar  to  that  of  Division 
A  above,  with  added  mention  of  outside  reading  upon  which  pupils  are 
to  be  examined  in  class.] 

Authors.1  Reading,  explanation,  and  memory  work.  Selections 
from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics.  Chanson  de  Roland, 
put  in  modern  French.  La  Fontaine,  Fables  (last  six  books).  Boileau, 
Selections  from  the  Satires,  and  he  Lutrin.  Racine,  Esther.  Fenelon, 
Telemaque.  Selections  from  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Stories 
from  the  prose  writers  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


FOURTH  FORM 

Latin,  6  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work  from, 
Latin  authors.  (The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  principal 
part  of  the  year's  work.)  Latin  grammar,  Latin  composition,  written 
and  oral.    Written  translations  (from  the  Latin). 

Program  of  Instruction.  Review  of  the  grammar.  More  detailed 
study  of  syntax. 

Reading  and  translation  of  authors.  Comparison  of  the  Latin  and 
the  French  construction  based  upon  examples  taken  from  the  texts  read. 
Oral  exercises  on  vocabulary. 

Prosody  and  versification ;  hexameter  and  pentameter,  scansion,  and 
recasting  in  metrical  form.2 

Authors.  Nepos  (1st  semester).  Caesar,  Gallic  War.  Cicero,  De 
Senectute.  Curtius.  Virgil,  Mneid  (Books  I,  II,  III).  Ovid,  Meta- 
morphoses (selections).    Ethical  selections  from  Latin  authors. 


FOURTH  FORM 

Greek,  3  hours  (optional).  Greek  grammar.  Written  and  oral 
exercises. 

Program  of  Instruction.  Declensions  (articles,  nouns,  adjec- 
tives, pronouns)  and  conjugations  (verbs  in  a>,  contract  verbs,  verbs 
in  /it,  common  irregular  verbs).    Invariable  words.    Elements  of  syntax. 

Authors.  Chrestomathy.  iEsop,  Fables.  Lucian,  extracts  from 
Dialogues  of  the  Dead,  Dialogues  of  the  Gods,  True  History. 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  be  explained  in  class. 

2  The  teacher  will  select  a  number  of  verses  in  one  of  these  familiar  meters 
and  transpose  the  words  into  the  prose  order.  The  pupils  are  then  required 
to  turn  this  back  so  as  to  give  a  correct  metrical  version. 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  195 


FOURTH  FORM 

French,  3  hours.  Division  A.  Reading*  and  interpretation  of,  and 
memory  work  from,  French  authors.  (Outside  reading  upon  which  the 
pupils  are  examined  in  class.)  Review  of  French  grammar.  Elementary 
principles  of  versification  in  connection  with  the  texts  read.  Exercises 
in  versification.  Language  work  and  spelling.  Simple  compositions. 
(From  time  to  time  the  teacher  will  touch  upon  the  questions  of  histori- 
cal grammar  that  seem  to  be  required  by  the  texts  read.  This  is  in  no 
sense  to  be  a  course  in  that  subject,  and  the  questions  are  to  be  treated 
only  when  they  will  make  the  present  day  language  more  intelligible.) 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics. 
Selected  scenes  from  Corneille  and  Moliere.  Racine,  Athalie.  La  Fon- 
taine, Fables  (last  six  books).  Boileau,  Le  Lutrin.  Fenelon,  selected 
dialogues  and  fables.  Voltaire,  Charles  XII.,  Siecle  de  Louis  XIV. 
Portraits  and  stories  from  the  memoirs  of  the  seventeenth  and  eigh- 
teenth centuries.  Chateaubriand,  stories,  scenes,  and  sketches.  Mi- 
chelet,  historical  extracts.      Selections  from  nineteenth  century  poets. 

French,  5  hours.  Division  B.  [Program  similar  to  that  of  Divi- 
sion A  above,  except  the  attention  devoted  to  versification.] 

Authors.1  Reading,  explanation,  and  memory  work.  Selections 
from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics.  Corneille,  Le  Cid. 
Moliere,  L'Avare.  Racine,  Athalie,  Les  Plaideurs.  Voltaire,  Charles 
XII.  Michelet,  historical  extracts.  Stories  from  the  prose  writers  of 
the  eighteenth  century.  Selections  from  the  poets  of  the  nineteenth 
century. 

THIRD   FORM 

Latin,  6  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work 
from,  Latin  authors.  (The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  prin- 
cipal part  of  the  year's  work.  Furthermore  the  pupils  will  be  required 
to  do  outside  reading  upon  which  they  will  be  examined  in  class.)  Re- 
view of  the  grammar.  Written  translations  (from  the  Latin).  Latin 
composition.  Prosody  and  versification;  hexameter  and  pentameter, 
scansion,  and  recasting  in  metrical  form.2  (Beginning  with  this  class,  a 
summary  of  the  history  of  Latin  literature  will  be  put  into  the  hands  of 
the  pupils.) 

Authors.  Narration  (selection  of  stories  taken  chiefly  from  Livy). 
Cicero,  Against  Catiline,  Archias.  Sallust.  Latin  Theatre,  extracts. 
Virgil,  Georgics,  Mneid  (Books  IV-VIII).  Latin  anthology  (except 
the  works  on  the  regular  program).  Ethical  selections  from  Latin 
authors. 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  he  explained  in  class. 

2  See  note  under  Fourth  Form  Latin,  p.  194. 


196  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


THIRD   FORM 

Greek,  3  hours  (optional).  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  mem- 
ory work  from,  Greek  authors.  Grammar  reviewed  and  continued. 
Written  translations  (from  the  Greek).    Greek  composition. 

Authors.  Lucian,  extracts  from  Lucian's  Dream,  Timon,  Menip- 
pus,  Charon.  Xenophon,  extracts  from  Cyropaedia,  Anabasis.  Herod- 
otus, extracts.    Ethical  selections  from  Greek  authors. 


THIRD   FORM 

French,  3  hours.  Division  A.  Reading  and  interpretation  of,  and 
memory  work  from,  French  authors.  [Outside  reading  and  historical 
grammar  as  in  the  fourth  form  above.]  Compositions.  (Beginning  with 
this  class  a  sketch  of  the  history  of  French  literature  will  be  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  pupils.) 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  writers  and  the  poets  of  the 
sixteenth,  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Portraits 
and  stories  from  the  sixteenth  century  prose  writers.  Selected  plays 
from  Corneille,  Moliere,  and  Racine.  Boileau,  Satires  and  Epitres. 
Selected  letters  from  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  century  writers. 
Poetical  masterpieces  of  Lamartine  and  Victor  Hugo.  Chateaubriand, 
stories,  scenes,  and  sketches.    Michelet,  historical  extracts. 

French,  4  hours.  Division  B.  Reading,  explanation,  and  memory- 
work.  (The  outside  reading  for  this  section  is  chiefly  taken  from  the 
French  translations  of  the  classical  and  modern  masterpieces.)  Reading 
and  quizzes  intended  to  acquaint  the  pupils  with  the  great  epochs  in 
French  literature.  (Beginning  with  this  class  a  sketch  of  the  history 
of  French  literature  will  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  pupils.)  Com- 
positions. 

Authors.1  Reading,  explanation,  and  memory  work.  Selections 
from  the  prose  and  verse  of  the  French  classics.  Corneille,  Horace, 
Cinna.  Racine,  Britannicus,  Iphiginie.  Moliere,  he  Bourgeois  Gentil- 
homme,  Les  Femmes  Savantes.  Bossuet,  Oraisons  funebres.  Chateau- 
briand, stories,  scenes,  and  sketches.  Victor  Hugo,  selected  poems. 
Stories  from  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  century  writers.  Selected 
scenes  from  the  comedies  of  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  century. 


SECOND  FORM 

Latin,  4  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  and  C.) 
Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work  from,  Latin  authors. 
(The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  principal  part  of  the  year's 
work.  Furthermore,  the  pupils  will  be  required  to  do  outside  reading 
upon  which  they  will  be  examined  in  class.)     Latin  composition,  and 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  be  explained  in  class. 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  197 

elementary  exercises  in  original  Latin  writing.  Reading,  and  quizzes 
intended  to  acquaint  the  pupils  with  the  chief  Latin  writers.  (Begin- 
ning with  this  class  a  more  complete  grammar  will  be  put  into  the  hands 
of  the  pupils.) 

Authors.  Cicero,  De  Suppliciis,  De  Signis,  Scipio's  Dream.  Livy, 
a  book  of  the  third  decade.  Tacitus,  Agricola,  Germanicus.  Pliny  the 
Younger,  Selected  Letters.  Latin  Theatre,  extracts.  Virgil,  JEneid 
(Books  IX-XII),  Bucolics.  Horace,  Odes.  Latin  anthology  (except 
works  on  the  regular  program).     Ethical  selections  from  Latin  authors. 


SECOND   FORM 

Greek,  5  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work  from, 
Greek  authors.  Review  of  the  grammar.  Written  translation  (from 
the  Greek).  Greek  composition.  Reading  and  quizzes  intended  to  ac- 
quaint the  pupils  with  the  chief  Greek  writers.  (Beginning  with  this 
class,  a  summary  of  the  history  of  Greek  literature  and  a  more  complete 
grammar  will  be  put  into  the  hands  of  the  pupils.) 

Authors.  Homer,  Iliad,  Odyssey.  Xenophon,  (Economics.  Plato, 
Apology,  Crito,  lo.  Plutarch,  extracts  from  the  Lives  (Alexander  and 
Caesar,  Demosthenes  and  Cicero,  Alcibiades  and  Coriolanus,  Pericles 
and  Fabius  Maximus).  Euripides,  a  tragedy  (chosen  from  the  two 
Iphigenia,  Alcestes,  Hecuba,  Hippolytus,  Medea).  Ethical  selections 
from  Greek  authors. 

SECOND   FORM 

French,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  sections  A,  B,  and  C.) 
Reading  and  explanation  of,  and  memory  work  from,  French  authors. 
(Outside  reading  upon  which  the  pupils  will  be  examined  in  class.) 
Compositions.  Reading  and  quizzes  intended  to  acquaint  the  pupils 
with  the  principal  writers  up  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century. 
(Beginning  with  this  class  a  more  technical  grammar  will  be  put  into 
the  hands  of  the  pupils.) 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  writers  and  the  poets  of  the 
sixteenth,  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Chanson 
de  Roland.  Extracts  from  Villehardouin,  Joinville,  Froissart,  and 
Comines.  Chrestomathy  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Montaigne,  principal 
chapters,  and  extracts.  Political  masterpieces  of  Marot,  Mansard,  du 
Bellay,  d'Aubigne,  Regnier.  Selected  plays  from  Corneille,  Moliere, 
and  Racine.  La  Fontaine,  Fables.  Boileau,  Satires  and  Epitres.  Bos- 
suet,  Oraisons  funebres.  La  Bruyere,  Caracteres.  Selected  letters  of  the 
seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  century.  Readings  on  the  society  of 
the  seventeenth  century  from  memoirs  and  correspondence.  Selections 
from  Rousseau.  Political  masterpieces  of  Lamartine  and  Victor  Hugo. 
Selections  from  the  principal  historians  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  be  explained  in  class. 


198  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

French,  3  hours.  Section  D.  [Aside  from  the  fact  that  the  sketch 
of  French  literature  covers  the  writers  of  the  sixteenth,  seventeenth,  and 
eighteenth  centuries,  and  that  the  list  of  authors  is  considerably  more 
limited,  the  work  is  very  similar  to  that  done  in  the  other  three  sections.] 


FIRST  FORM 

Latin,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  sections  A,  B,  and  C.) 
Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work  from,  Latin  authors. 
(The  reading  and  translation  will  form  the  principal  part  of  the  year's 
work.  Furthermore,  the  pupils  will  be  required  to  do  outside  reading 
upon  which  they  will  be  examined  in  class.)  Written  translations  (from 
the  Latin).  Latin  composition  and  exercises  in  original  Latin  writing. 
Reading  and  quizzes  intended  to  acquaint  the  pupils  with  the  chief 
Latin  writers. 

Authors.  Cicero,  selected  letters,  Pro  Milone,  Pro  Murena.  Ex- 
tracts from  and  analysis  of  the  principal  speeches.  Extracts  from  his 
ethical  and  philosophical  writings.  Extracts  from  his  treatise  on  rhet- 
oric. Great  addresses  (chosen  chiefly  from  Livy,  Sallust,  and  Tacitus). 
Livy,  a  book  of  the  third  decade.  Seneca,  extracts  from  the  Letters  to 
Lucilius,  and  his  ethical  writings.  Tacitus,  Annals,  History,  Dialogues 
on  Orators.  Latin  Theatre,  extracts.  Lucretius,  extracts.  Virgil. 
Horace,  Satires  and  Epistles.  Latin  anthology  (except  works  on  the 
regular  program).    Ethical  selections  from  Latin  authors. 

Extra  work.  Latin,  2  hours  (required  in  Section  A,  optional  in  Sec- 
tion B). 

FIRST  FORM 

Greek,  5  hours.  Reading  and  translation  of,  and  memory  work 
from,  Greek  authors.  Written  translation  (from  Greek).  Greek  com- 
position. 

Authors.  Xenophon,  Memorabilia.  Plato,  extracts.  Demos- 
thenes, Philippics,  On  the  Crown.  Attic  orators,  extracts  from :  Lysias, 
Isocrates,  iEschines,  Hyperides.  Homer,  Iliad,  Odyssey.  Extracts 
from  iEschylus  and  Aristophanes.  A  tragedy  each  from  Sophocles  and 
Euripides.  Greek  anthology  (except  works  on  the  regular  program). 
Ethical  selections  from  Greek  authors. 


FIRST  FORM 

French,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  and  C.) 
[Similar  to  that  for  the  second  form,  save  that  the  principal  writers  cov- 
ered extend  from  the  seventeenth  century  to  the  end  of  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth.] 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  199 

Authors.1  Selections  from  the  prose  writers  and  the  poets  of  the  six- 
teenth, seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Montaigne, 
principal  chapters  and  extracts.  Selected  plays  from  Corneille,  Moliere, 
and  Racine.  La  Fontaine,  Fables.  Boileau,  Epitres,  Satires,  Art  poi- 
tique,  extracts  from  prose  works.  Pascal,  Pensees,  Provinciates  (I,  IV, 
XIII,  and  extracts).  Bossuet,  Oraisons  funebres,  Sermons  choisis,  ex- 
tracts from  his  various  writings.  La  Bruyere,  Caracteres.  Fenelon, 
Lettre  h  VAcad6mie,  extracts  from  his  other  works.  Selected  letters 
from  the  seventeenth  and  the  eighteenth  century.  Montesquieu,  Con- 
siderations sur  les  causes  de  la  grandeur  des  Romains  et  de  lew  decadence. 
Extracts  from  L'Esprit  des  lois,  and  his  other  works.  Buffon,  ex- 
tracts. Voltaire,  extracts  from  his  historical  writings  and  from  his 
other  prose  works.  Diderot,  extracts.  Rousseau,  selections,  Lettre  a 
d'Alembert  sur  les  spectacles.  Readings  on  the  society  of  the  eighteenth 
century  from  memoirs  and  correspondence.  Political  masterpieces  of 
Lamartine  and  Victor  Hugo.  Selections  from  the  ethical  writers  of  the 
seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  nineteenth  centuries.  Selections  from  the 
principal  historians  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

French,  3  hours.  Section  D.  [Aside  from  the  fact  that  the  sketch 
of  French  literature  is  confined  to  the  nineteenth  century  writers  and 
that  the  list  of  authors  is  considerably  more  limited  (orators  and  politi- 
cal writers  since  the  Revolution,  and  the  principal  scientists  have  been 
added),  the  work  is  very  similar  to  that  done  in  the  other  three  sections.] 


PHILOSOPHY  FORM 

Latin  and  Greek,  4  hours  (optional)  Section  A.  Latin,  2  hours 
(optional)  Section  B.  The  authors  of  the  first  form  program. 
Cicero,  extracts  from  his  rhetorical  treatises.  Lucan,  extracts.  Thu- 
cydides,  extracts.  Aristotle,  extracts  from  the  Rhetoric  and  the  Poetics. 
Theocritus,  selected  Idyls. 

In  the  graduate  forms  there  is  no  outlined  program  nor 
even  a  suggested  list  of  authors.  The  professor  chooses  from 
the  preceding  course  the  authors  that  seem  likely  best  to 
prepare  his  particular  class  for  the  competitive  examination 
that  lies  before  them. 

In  examining  this  classical  program,  perhaps  the  first  thing 
that  strikes  our  attention  is  the  very  large  amount  of  time  it 
requires,  amounting  to  between  thirty-five  and         Time 
thirty-nine  hours  of  Latin  and  eighteen  hours     Allowance 
of  Greek,  and  this,  too,  representing  what  is    forClassics- 
looked  upon  to-day  as  an  almost  "irreducible    minimum." 

1  The  teacher  will  choose  from  this  list  the  matter  to  be  explained  in  class. 


200  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

There  is  very  general  complaint  among  the  teachers  that  the 
time  for  Latin  is  far  too  short.  Even  assuming  that  the 
French  secondary  school  course  covers  at  least  the  freshman 
year  work  in  our  best  colleges,  the  number  of  hours  still 
appears  inordinately  large.  Taking  the  recommendations  of 
the  Keport  of  the  Committee  of  Ten  as  the  basis  of  compari- 
son, and  assuming  that  the  Latin  of  the  first  year  of  college 
amounts  to  three  periods  per  week,  we  still  find  that  the 
Latin  program  of  the  French  schools  occupies  nearly  twice 
as  many  periods  as  the  American  program  which  we  have 
assumed  to  be  reasonably  comparable.  On  considering  fur- 
ther that  in  America  the  time  unit  is  ordinarily  not  over 
three  quarters  of  an  hour,  while  in  France  it  is  nominally 
sixty  minutes  (though  in  practice  this  is  usually  cut  down 
about  five  minutes),  the  relative  difference  is  still  further 
increased.  On  the  same  basis,  the  Greek  in  the  French 
schools  with  its  sixteen  or  eighteen  periods  during  the  course 
likewise  receives  far  more  attention  than  we  grant  it. 
Looked  at  from  another  point  of  view,  namely,  the  amount 
of  time  spent  upon  the  classics  as  compared  to  the  total 
length  of  the  secondary  course,  there  is  considerably  more 
similarity,  for  in  the  two  countries  the  classics  occupy  about 
one  third  of  all  the  time,  the  proportion  being  somewhat 
greater  with  us  than  it  is  abroad. 

The   amount  of  time  devoted  to   classical  study   in   the 

French  schools  makes  it  possible  to  read  the  large  number 

of  authors,  especially  in  Latin,  that  we  'find  on 

Diversity  of  their  programs.  There  are  many  works  and 
even  some  authors  that  are  nothing  more  than 
names  to  most  of  our  students  who  do  not  carry  on  their 
classical  studies  beyond  the  first  year  in  college.  With  the  one- 
course  Latin  diet  that  prevails  in  most  of  our  American  high 
school  classes,  it  is  not  surprising  that  few  of  our  students 
gain  any  adequate  ideas  of  the  development  of  the  Latin 
literature.  I  had  not  even  a  word  of  explanation  to  offer 
when  one  teacher  smilingly  referred  to  Csesar  as  our  Latin 
"  daily  bread."     Every  classical  class  in  the  French  schools 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  201 

in  general  is  studying  at  least  two  authors  simultaneously, 
and  after  the  second  year  both  prose  and  poetry  are  repre- 
sented. For  example,  the  fourth  form  class  (the  third  year 
of  Latin)  starts  the  year  with  Nepos,  follows  it  with  three 
books  of  the  JEneid  and  some  books  of  Csesar  running  con- 
jointly, and  completes  the  year  with  Be  Senectute  and  selec- 
tions from  the  Metamorphoses,  contriving  to  work  in  a  little 
Curtius  and  some  extracts  from  purely  ethical  and  moral 
subjects.  The  following  third  form  scheme  of  work  will  give 
a  clearer  idea  of  the  weekly  distribution  of  time  : 

Tuesday,  3.30^4.30  p.  m.    Memory  work;  dictation  of  the  text  for  the 

Latin  to  French  translation;  reading  and  translation. 
Wednesday,  9.00-10.00  a.  m.    Memory  work;  correction  of  the  Latin 
to  French  translation. 
3.30-4.30  p.  m.    Grammatical  review  and  prosody. 
Friday,  2.30-3.30  p.  m.     Memory  work;    dictation  of  the  text  for  the 

French  to  Latin  translation ;  reading  and  translation. 
Saturday,  8.00-9.00  a.  m.    Memory  work;   reading  and  translation. 
3.30-4.30  p.  m.    Correction  of  the  French  to  Latin  translation. 

While  this  is  a  purely  individual  arrangement,  for  the 
official  program  merely  states  the  amount  of  ground  to  be 
covered  and  does  not  attempt  to  specify  how  the  time  shall 
be  apportioned,  it  may  be  taken  as  a  fairly  typical  distribu- 
tion. At  the  beginning  of  the  year,  each  professor  submits 
some  such  weekly  schedule  to  the  head  master  of  the  school 
in  order  that  the  work  of  the  pupils  may  be  scattered  over 
the  whole  week,  and  that  they  shall  not  be  unduly  crowded 
on  any  one  day. 

The  methods  in  use  in  classical  teaching,  and  in  fact  in  all 
linguistic  instruction,  are  strikingly  different  from  our  own. 
In  the  first  place,  one  is  impressed  with   the       Method- 
emphasis   placed   upon  memory   work.      The       Memory- 
weekly  program  quoted  above  makes  some  pro- 
vision for  this  every  day,  and  if  the  number  of  lines  that  I 
heard  recited  in  that  particular  class  is  to  be  taken  as  a  stand- 
ard (and  I  believe  it  may),  those  boys  were  learning  about  a 
hundred  lines  of  Latin  per  week.     The  teacher  of  the  same 


202  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

form  in  one  of  the  provincial  colleges  in  discussing  this 
question  of  memory  work  said :  "  Yes,  I  believe  in  it  thor- 
oughly. I  have  these  boys  thirteen  or  fourteen  hours  per 
week  (including  French  and  ethics)  and  they  have  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  lines  to  learn.  If  I  had  them  more  hours, 
they  would  have  still  more  to  commit  to  memory.  The  boys 
never  object,"  <r  It  was  after  the  close  of  the  lesson,  so  the 
mild  expressions  of  disagreement  with  the  last  remark  on 
the  part  of  several  boys  gathered  around,  while  not  subver- 
sive of  school  .discipline,  showed  a  decided  difference  of 
opinion.  The  facility  acquired  by  long  practice,  together 
with  the  fact  fchat  ,the  lines  to  be  memorized  are  invariably 
carefully  translated  and  'explained  in  the  class  beforehand, 
makes  it  possible  for  the  boys  easily  to  learn  the  ten  or 
twenty  lines  assigned  for  e^ach  lesson  in  about  as  many  min- 
utes. Inasmuch  as  the  French  is  always  closely  connected 
with  the  Latin  in  all  this  memory  work,  the  practice  cannot 
fail  to  give  the  pupils  a  great  advantage  in  translating  either 
from  Latin  to  French  or  from  French  to  Latin.  It  is  an 
open  question,  however,  if  this  emphasis  upon  committing  to 
memory  has  not  been  carried  too  far.  There  are  certain 
evidences,  especially  in  the  lower  classes,  that  it  has  even 
trespassed  on  the  domain  of  subjects  like  history  and  mathe- 
matics, where  it  should  play  a  decidedly  subordinate  role. 

For  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  the  modern  pronunci- 
ation of  Latin  as  found  in  the  United  States  to-day,  it  is  at 
.  .  first  almost  impossible  to  follow  the  class  work 
in  France.  The  old  Erasmian  method  of  pro- 
nunciation served  as  the  point  of  departure,  but  except  for 
the  Koman  sound  of  e  and  the  enunciation  of  the  final  con- 
sonants, the  Latin  is  pronounced  exactly  as  though  it  were 
French.  The  efforts  to  bring  about  a  reform  here  have  thus 
far  failed  to  meet  with  any  general  sympathy,  chiefly  because 
the  intimate  relation  between  the  Latin  and  the  French  is  one 
of  the  strong  reasons  for  studying  the  ancient  language,  and 
with  the  reform  pronunciation,  not  only  would  the  pupils 
have  to  master  a  foreign  pronunciation,  but  the  aural  assist- 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  203 

ance  in  discovering  the  relationship  between  the  two  lan- 
guages would  be  entirely  eliminated. 

Latin  prose  is  not  looked  upon  as  a  kind  of  addendum  or 
appendix  that  is  merely  attached  to  the  outside  of  the  regu- 
lar course,  but  it  forms  an  integral  part  of  the 
work.  In  fact,  in  the  minds  of  the  French  c  ^osSion. 
teachers,  these  two  are  never  dissociated.  The 
teacher  dictates  the  text  to  the  class.  The  work  is  prepared 
outside,  handed  in,  carefully  read  by  the  teacher  and  the 
errors  noted,  discussed  at  length  in  the  class,  and  finally 
written  correctly  by  each  pupil  in  his  note  book.  Through- 
out this  whole  process  there  is  an  amount  of  care  and  pains- 
taking that  would  astonish  some  of  our  American  boys.  There 
is  unquestionably  a  great  waste  of  time  in  dictating  these 
texts,  for  one  must  reckon  on  ten  to  twenty  minutes  for 
each,  and  even  with  the  reading  and  rereading  mistakes  are 
bound  to  crop  out.  It  was  consequently  a  great  delight  to 
find  one  or  two  teachers  wide-awake  enough  to  use  some 
kind  of  a  duplicating  machine  to  prepare  their  texts  for  class 
use.  Even  the  professor  himself  is  compelled  to  keep  a  blank 
book  for  all  the  exercises  of  this  kind  he  gives  out,  a  regula- 
tion that  certainly  facilitates  the  work  of  the  inspector  when 
he  makes  his  rounds.  In  the  lower  grades,  the  texts,  like  so 
many  of  our  own,  are  mere  translations  from  the  Latin,  but 
in  the  upper  classes  they  are  often  chosen  from  the  French 
classic  writers. 

Just  as  in  the  German  Gymnasium,  considerable  impor- 
tance is  attached  to  written  translations  from  Latin  to  the 
vernacular.     They  certainly  call  forth  an  ac- 
curacy and  a  nicety  of  rendition  that  is  prac-    Translations 
tically  impossible  in  oral  work.     The  general 
method   followed  is  similar  to  that  just  indicated  for  the 
Latin  prose  work.     The  same  care  is  taken  in  correcting  and 
rewriting,  so  that  it  may  truly  be  said  that  this  translation 
from  the  Latin  is  after  all  an  exercise  in  French  composition 
In  fact  this  correlation  between  Latin  and  French  is  every- 
where strongly  evident,  largely,  probably,  because  the  teacher 


204  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

of  Latin  is  always  the  teacher  of  French,  and  what  he  neg- 
lects in  one  class  he  will  only  have  to  correct  in  the  next. 
This  practice  of  teaching  the  mother  tongue  through  the 
classics  goes  far  toward  helping  the  classical  pupils  make 
up  the  seven  hours  excess  of  French  which  the  pupils  of 
Division  B  have  gained  during  the  first  cycle. 

Heading  and  translation,  or  as  the  French  call  it,  explica- 
tion des  textes,  is  treated  entirely  differently  from  what  it  is 
in  America.  In  the  first  place,  the  class  work 
is  free  from  that  "  choppy  "  sort  of  recitation 
that  is  so  common  with  us,  for  the  French  teacher  makes  no 
effort  to  get  around  the  class  in  any  single  period.  He  calls 
on  very  few  boys,  often  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  out  of  a 
class  of  twenty  or  thirty,  but  he  manages  to  find  out  pretty 
accurately  what  each  one  really  knows  about  the  lesson  in 
hand.  I  have  never  yet  heard  an  absolute  failure  in  a  French 
class,  nor  have  I  ever  heard  a  boy  say,  "  I  am  not  prepared." 
•Probably  both  these  situations  occur,  but  they  are  at  least 
reasonably  rare.  As  the  program  already  given  will  show, 
the  first  part  of  the  period  where  translation  occurs  is 
taken  up  with  memory  work  and  dictation  for  outside 
written  work,  so  that  about  two  thirds  of  the  time  remain 
for  the  translation  proper.  A  pupil  is  called  upon  to  "  explain 
the  text."  This  falls  into  four  stages  :  first,  reading  in  Latin 
a  whole  sentence  or  perhaps  the  entire  assignment  that  he 
will  be  called  upon  to  render ;  second,  he  rereads  the  Latin 
by  natural  groupings  of  the  words  (that  is,  subject  and  predi- 
cate if  it  is  a  simple  sentence,  the  subject  and  its  modifiers,  a 
clause  at  a  time,  etc.),  but  in  the  order  required  hy  the  French 
idiom  ;  third,  each  of  these  groups  of  words  is  immediately 
turned  literally  into  French ;  and  finally,  the  whole  assign- 
ment is  translated  into  good  French.  The  second  and  third 
of  these  steps  make  up  what  the  French  call  the  "  word  for 
word "  translation,  really  a  sort  of  hybrid,  for  it  is  neither 
Latin  nor  French.  This  is  a  thoroughly  artificial  process  and 
plainly  a  device  of  the  translator  which  only  emphasizes  the 
bad  habits  that  nine  tenths  of  the  people  fall  into  who  at- 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  205 

tempt  to  translate  from  one  language  to  another,  and  tends 
to  nullify  all  effort  to  induce  the  pupils  to  think  in  the  foreign 
idiom.  It  would  seem  to  be  a  confession  of  weakness  thus 
to  juggle  with  the  order  of  the  Latin  phrases  in  order  to 
make  them  intelligible  in  the  mother  tongue.  To  be  sure, 
it  eliminates  numerous  syntactical  questions  and  explana- 
tions, for  the  teacher  can  discern  immediately  whether  or 
not  the  pupil  has  grasped  the  meaning  of  the  text ;  and  the 
rest  of  the  class  at  the  same  time  have  most  of  their  diffi- 
culties cleared  up,  but  it  must  necessarily  waste  considerable 
time,  for  the  method  recognizes  no  differentiation  of  difficulty, 
and  the  same  laborious  and  artificial  treatment  is  expended 
upon  the  simple  as  upon  the  obscure.  The  movement  for  the 
suppression  of  this  "  word  for  word  "  translation  is  even  now 
gathering  headway,1  but  much  time  and  effort  will  be  neces- 
sary to  change  such  a  deep-seated  method  of  procedure. 
This  is  accompanied  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  by  a  running 
comment  and  criticism,  embracing  questions  of  history,  ge- 
ography, etymology,  and  style,  which  all  serve  to  explain, 
illumine,  and  appreciate  the  text.  The  teacher  sometimes 
monopolizes  so  much  of  the  time  in  this  commentary  that  it 
seems  as  though  he  were  lecturing  to  the  class  rather  than 
that  the  class  were  reciting  to  him.  It  is  essentially  a  method 
of  pouring  in  rather  than  of  drawing  out ;  but  it  apparently 
characterizes  the  philosophy  of  education  of  the  very  great 
majority  of  the  French  teaching  body.  This  whole  method 
would  fall  far  short  of  the  mark  were  it  not  for  the  simplicity 
of  all  these  explanations  and  the  inseparable  note  book  in 
the  hands  of  the  class.  These  comments  are  carefully  jotted 
down  by  each  individual  pupil  to  be  digested  and  absorbed 
before  the  next  lesson.  The  general  result  is  that  time  for 
time  in  his  classical  studies,  the  French  boy  covers  just  about 
as  much  ground  as  his  American  cousin,  but  on  the  whole  he 
does  his  work  more  thoroughly  and  knows  it  better. 

1  Cf.  recent  articles  in  the  Revue  universitaire  by  Lavand,  Une  petite  H- 
forme  pMagogique  ;  Comment  rendre  nos  Sieves  plus  fort  en  gree  et  en  latin,  1904.  ; 
Ciiabert,  Simples  notes  sur  la  traduction  orale  des  textes  latins,  1907. 


206  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Inasmuch  as  the  Greek  and  the  Latin  are  both  handled 
by.  the    same   teachers,    the  general   method    followed   in 

teaching  these   two   languages   is   essentially 

the  same.  I  was  generally  impressed,  how- 
ever, by  the  carelessness  of  both  teachers  and  pupils  with 
regard  to  accent  in  pronunciation.  One  professor  frankly 
said  that  as  soon  as  he  found  his  pupils  could  get  along 
without  the  accents  he  no  longer  insisted  on  their  mark- 
ing them  in  their  written  work,  but  it  was  quite  impos- 
sible to  discover  what  his  standard  of  pronunciation  was. 
In  this  same  second  form  class,  the  text  for  the  Greek 
composition  was  given  out  in  Latin  and  the  translation 
was  to  be  made  directly  from  one  language  to  the  other 
without  utilizing  the  French  as  an  intermediary,  that  is, 
without  first  translating  the  whole  extract  into  the  vernacular. 
yThe  close  relation  between  the  teaching  of  the  classics 
and   the  French  has   naturally   influenced  the   instruction 

in  the  mother  tongue  to  a  marked  degree, 
French.0        *n  ^act>  one  mav  fairly   say  that  for  many  a 

generation  the  vernacular  suffered  under  this 
baleful  influence,  for  the  dry  method  of  teaching  the  dead 
classics  was  rigorously  applied  to  the  living  French.  As 
long  as  the  intellectual  life  was  practically  bounded  by 
the  field  already  worked  over  by  the  sages  of  Greece  and 
I  Rome,  the  vocabularies  of  these  older  languages  were  per- 
fectly adequate  for  the  uses  of  mediaeval  scholars.  For 
fourteen  centuries  the  great  desire  had  been  to  attain 
the  summits  once  reached  during  the  golden  age  of  classic  civil- 
ization. The  Eenaissance  meant  not  only  a  more  and  more 
successful  attempt  to  regain  this  lost  ground,  but  it  marked  also 
the  stimulus  to  independent  thought  outside  the  traditional 
limits  and  the  beginning  of  the  modern  scientific  movement. 
•Erasmus  and  a  few  other  devoted  classicists  struggled 
manfully  to  make  the  Latin  respond  to  the  changing 
Jneeds  of  the  intellectual  life,  but  all  in  vain,  for  the 
^inflexibility  of  the  ancient  tongue  was  its  undoing.  In 
this  dilemma,  the  vernacular,  not  one  but  half  a  dozen  or 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  207 

more,  rushed  forward  to  fill  the  breach.  Thus  while  the 
Latin  still  served  the  purposes  of  the  philosophers  and 
remained  a  kind  of  international  language  in  that  field, 
the  scientists  were  forced  back   upon  their  own   resources, 

and  they  ^nnfriVmterl    materially  to  rhp   ripvplopmftnfr   of  the 

modern_J&ngiies*>1  However  much  our  sympathies  may 
have  been  aroused  by  Eamus's  struggles  to  popularize  French 
as  a  subject  of  instruction,  we  must  admit  that  he  failed  in 
his  purpose.  The  Oratorians,  the  bitter  rivals  of  the  Jes- 
uits, and  the  illustrious  though  ill-fated  schools  of  the  Port- 
Eoyalists,  however,  instituted  a  very  important  reform  when 
they  not  only  based  the  classical  instruction  upon  the  mother 
tongue  and  also  began  the  latter  subject  first,  but  they  even 
commenced  to  study  the  native  language  for  its  own  sake.2  1/ 
The  progress  was  slow,  for  it  was  not  until  toward  the  end 
of  that  century,  the  seventeenth,  that  Hersan  and  his  more 
famous  pupil  EpUip  introduced  the  study  in  one  of  the 
university  colleges.  The  latter  speaks  with  enthusiasm  of 
the  success  he  obtained  in  having  his  rhetoric  pupils  sum- 
marize their  Latin  lessons  partly  in  Latin  and  partly  in 
French,  and  of  the  stimulation  in  interest  resulting  from 
the  introduction  of  this  simple  variation  of  method.3 
Later  this  practice  of  Rollin's  spread  until  we  find  the 
exception  of  the  seventeenth  century  becoming  the  rule 
of  the  eighteenth,  for_Rollms  Traite  des  etudes  largely 
represents  the  programs  of  the  university  colleges  until  well 
on  toward  the  Revolution.  However  much  the  French 
increased  in  importance,  it  was  entirely  dominated  by  the 
Latin.  Even  the  short-lived  Central  Schools  of  the  Direc- 
tory as  they  were  actually  organized  gave  comparatively 
little  attention  to  French,  and  it  was  all  confined  to  the 
last  two  years  of  the  course.  The  first  lyc^e  program 
published  by  Napoleon  in  1802   carried  a  somewhat  simi- 

1  Cf.  Hartog,  Teaching  of  the  mother  tongue  in  France,  in  Ed.  Rev. ,  April, 
1908,  XXXV,  p.  335. 

2  Lantoine,  Histoire  de  V enseignement  secondaire  en  France  au  xvn«  siecle, 
p.  170. 

8  Quoted  by  Lantoine,  op.  cit.,  p.  212. 


208  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

lar  allotment  of  time  for  the  native  language  and  litera- 
ture. The  revision  of  1809  after  the  founding  of  the 
University,  however,  bears  evidence  of  a  return  to  many 
of  the  conditions  of  the  old  rdgime.  Then  for  the  first 
time  we  find  a  program  that  in  outward  appearance 
was  very  similar  to  the  one  in  existence  until  the  recent 
reform.  At  that  time  French  and  Latin  appeared  side  by 
side  throughout  the  course,  not  that  the  two  were  by  any 
means  on  equal  footing,  but  they  were  at  least  contem- 
porary. This  juxtaposition  remains  much  the  same  to-day, 
though  on  the  classical  side  the  native  tongue  has  gained 
absolutely  as  well  as  relatively  upon  the  Latin,  and  on 
the  "  modern "  side,  which  the  new  program  has  estab- 
lished on  a  par  with  the  classical  instruction,  the  French 
stands  alone.  In  the  second  cycle,  French  receives  the 
same  time  allotment  on  the  two  "sides,"  but  in  the  first 
cycle  it  has  nineteen  hours  in  Division  B  as  against  only 
twelve  in  Division  A,  an  advantage  which,  as  has  already 
been  pointed  out,  is  largely  made  up  by  the  fine  correla- 
tion between  classical  and  French  instruction. 

In  the  elementary  classes  of  the  secondary  school,  instruc- 
tion in  the  mother  tongue  is  confined  to  reading,  language 
work,  analysis,  memoriter  recitation,  and  simple  written  ex- 
ercises, anything  approaching  literary  study  even  of  a  most 
elementary  type  being  chiefly  conspicuous  by  its  absence. 
The  emphasis  upon  the  study  of  formal  grammar  and  the 
aridity  of  this  literary  aspect  of  the  program  in  comparison 
with  that  of  the  primary  schools  is  explicable  on  two 
grounds :  first,  the  tenacity  of  the  influence  of  the  traditional 
method  of  classical  instruction ;  and,  second,  the  fact  that  in 
the  lyc^es  and  colleges  these  years  are  looked  upon  merely 
as  preparatory  to  the  real  secondary  course  which  is  to 
follow. 

The  written  exercises  in  these  elementary  classes  are 
similarly  barren,  for  there  is  a  great  deal  of  dictation  work, 
a  little  letter  writing,  and  only  a  very  small  opportunity  for 
any  self-expression  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.     In  fact,  even 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  209 

in  the  upper  classes,  great  as  has  been  the  progress  in  the 
last  thirty-five  years,  there  is  still  a  good  deal  of  truth  in  M. 
Brdal's  criticism  that  the  pupil  acquires  "  the 
habit  of  expressing  the  sentiments  of  conven- 
tion; the  literary  exercises  of  the  class  are  for  him  only 
what  the  theatre  is  for  the  actor."1  In  a  first  form  class, 
the  following  was  given  out  as  the  subject  for  one  of 
the  written  compositions :  "  A  pupil  of  Eollin  has  failed  in 
some  important  piece  of  work  he  has  undertaken.  Write  a 
letter  of  sympathy  from  the  master  to  this  pupil."  I  had 
the  good  fortune  to  be  present  in  a  third  form  class  during 
the  "  correction  of  the  task,"  as  the  French  put  it.  One  of 
the  three  periods  per  week  is  ordinarily  spent  in  this  way. 
The  subject  assigned  had  been  this : 

"Toward  midnight  on  the  eve  of  the  battle  of  Eaveaux 
(1746),  M.  Se*nac,  the  physician  of  Marshal  Saxe,  who  found 
himself  alone  in  the  tent  with  his  commander,  noticed  that 
the  latter  was  sad  and  pensive.  On  being  asked  the  reason, 
the  Marshal  replied  in  these  lines  from  Andromaque,  III.,  8  : 

'  Songe,  songe  Sephis,  a  cette  nuit  cruelle 
Qui  fut  pour  tout  un  peuple  une  nuit  eternelle  ; 
Songe  au,  cris  des  vainqueurs,  songe  aux  cris  des  mourants 
Dans  la  flamme  6toufl£e,  sous  le  fer  expirant.' 

In  writing  what  is  suggested  to  you  by  this  incident,  make 
use  of  the  following  suggestions:  (1)  Historical  introduction 
on  Maurice  of  Saxony ;  sketch  his  military  career.  (2)  De- 
scription of  the  sleeping  camp ;  look  up  the  picture  of  Du- 
taille;  the  tent  of  the  Marshal,  the  only  one  lighted; 
entrance  of  Sdnac.  (3)  Dialogue  between  the  two  men  on 
the  lines  from  Kacine,  Se'nac  supporting  the  necessity  for 
the  war,  Maurice  presenting  the  humanitarian  point  of 
view.  (4)  The  two  men  go  out  of  the  tent  to  look  at  the 
sleeping  camp.  Use  here  the  scene  represented  in  the  sky 
of  the  picture,  and  imagine  the  words  of  the  Marshal  and 
his  physician  as  they  separate." 

1  Br£al,  Quelques  mots  sur  V instruction  pub lique  en  France,  p.  241. 

14 


210  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

After  reading  two  of  the  better  papers  and  one  of  the 
poorer  ones,  the  teacher  made  some  very  keen  and  incisive 
general  criticisms  on  the  papers  as  a  whole,  using  the  com- 
positions read  to  illustrate  his  points.  He  was  particularly 
severe  on  the  boys  that  used  the  cut  and  dried  arguments  of 
their  ethics  text-book  in  elaborating  the  dialogue  suggested 
above. 

Both  these  examples  are  rather  characteristic  of  the  ethi- 
cal tendency  that  permeates  the  ordinary  instruction,  and 
the  second  shows  strongly  the  influence  upon  the  logical 
development  of  ideas.  Furthermore,  the  second  brings  out 
very  clearly  one  of  the  strongest  features  of  French  teach- 
ing :  the  effort  made  to  prevent  pupils  from  making  mistakes. 
It  is  perfectly  true  that  this  may  be  carried  to  a  point  which 
is  destructive  of  initiative  and  independence,  but  if  our 
American  teachers  would  give  more  attention  to  this  phase 
of  their  work,  they  would  not  have  to  expend  so  much  energy 
in  rectifying  errors  already  made. 

As  we  come  to  the  upper  classes,  the  elementary  language 

work  and  the  technical  grammar  are  gradually  sloughed  off, 

and   save    for  the   ever   present    memorizing, 

Literature 

composition  has  to  divide  the  attention  only 
with  literature.  On  the  whole  the  latter  is  unusually  well 
done,  even  though  at  times  it  is  too  intent  upon  fastening 
the  established  criticism  upon  the  pupil's  mind  rather  than 
of  evoking  from  him  an  independent  expression  of  his  own 
personal  and  honest  appreciation.  From  the  third  form  up- 
ward there  is  an  ever  increasing  amount  of  attention  devoted 
to  the  history  of  literature,  though  not  without  protest  on  the 
part  of  some  of  the  university  professors  who  rather  incon- 
siderately maintain  that  this  study  should  almost  exclusively 
be  reserved  for  superior  education ; x  thereby  losing  sight  of 

1  Lanson,  Vunivcrsite"  et  la  soci6t6  moderne,  p.  111.  M.  Lanson  is  not 
quite  so  emphatic  in  his  statements  on  this  point  a  year  and  a  half  later.  See 
his  Etudes  modernes  dans  I'enseignement  secondaire,  in  L 'Education  de  la 
democratic,  p.  178,  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  jficole  des  hautcs  Modes  sociales,  in 
the  spring  of  1903. 


FRENCH  AND   THE  CLASSICS  211 

the  fact  that  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of  the  second- 
ary school  graduates  ever  enter  the  arts  faculties  of  the  uni- 
versities. On  the  whole,  then,  reading  and  interpretation 
claim  the  major  portion  of  the  time.  Except  for  a  slight 
emphasis  upon  nineteenth  century  poets  in  the  Latin  sec- 
tion, and  the  additional  inclusion  of  selections  from  the 
prose  writers  of  the  same  century  in  the  "  modern  "  section, 
the  literature  course  in  the  main  follows  a  chronological 
order  from  the  classic  writers  down.  After  the  sixth  form,  as 
the  program  implies,  each  teacher  has  a  rather  wide  range 
of  books  from  which  to  choose  his  texts.  This  allows  con- 
siderable leeway  for  the  exercise  of  his  own  personal  pref- 
erences and  enables  the  teacher  to  select  the  things  he  likes 
best  and  will  consequently  teach  most  enthusiastically. 
Very  little  reading  is  actually  done  in  the  class,  and  one 
hears  mere  summarizing  comparatively  seldom.  There  is 
an  evident  attempt  to  take  up  the  play,  the  poem,  or  the 
selection  as  a  whole,  rather  than  to  follow  the  fragmentary 
method  of  treatment  that  has  little  place  in  real  literary  ap- 
preciation, and  usually  succeeds  in  stifling  any  love  for  litera- 
ture that  might  otherwise  be  aroused.  As  far  as  the  French 
classics  are  concerned,  the  national  theatres  in  Paris  do  much 
to  supplement  the  school.  Eegularly  at  the  Comedie  Fran- 
gaise  and  frequently  at  the  Odeon,  one  finds  classic  plays 
upon  the  boards,  and  at  the  latter  theatre  the  prices  are  un- 
usually low  upon  such  occasions,  for  in  France  it  has  not  yet 
become  the  fashion  to  neglect  the  classics.  The  teachers  are 
free  to  recommend  these  plays  to  their  pupils,  and  at  the 
Thursday  matinee  one  may  count  on  finding  a  goodly  pro- 
portion of  boys  and  girls  in  the  audience.  Of  course  not  all 
the  books  in  the  program  can  be  read  every  year,  but  when 
a  boy  has  completed  the  first  form  (there  is  no  French  in  the 
final  year)  one  may  unhesitatingly  affirm  that  he  has  made 
the  acquaintance  of  all  the  classic  and  the  principal  modern 
writers  of  both  prose  and  poetry  (save  those  authors  whose 
writings  are  addressed  to  a  more  mature  public),  that  he  has 
read  their  best  known  works  and  has  committed  to  memory 


212  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

several  thousand  lines  of  their  choicest  expressions,  that  he 
has  some  intelligent  notions  of  the  style  and  characteristics 
of  many  of  them,  and  that  in  the  main  he  has  acquired  an 
appreciation  of  and  a  love  for  good  literature.  Surely  this  is 
an  achievement  of  which  anybody  might  be  proud.  To  be 
sure  it  requires  time  (in  the  Latin  sections  three  hours  per 
week  for  six  years),  a  consistently  and  progressively  arranged 
program,  and  intelligent  and  skilful  teachers,  but  with  the 
possible  exception  of  the  memory  work  is  it  more  than  ought 
to  be  required  of  our  own  high  school  graduates  ? 


CHAPTEK  X 

MODERN   LANGUAGES 

Within  the  purview  of  the  French  public  school  system,  the 
expression  "  modern  languages,"  or  as  their  term  is,  "  living 
languages,"   means   English,   German,   Italian,    Significatiou 
Spanish,  Arabic,  and  Eussian.    The  latter  is  not    of  "  Modern 
yet  taught  in  any  of  the  schools;  the  Arabic     Languages-" 
and   its   related   language,  the   Khabyl,    concern   only  the 
schools  in  Africa ;  the  Italian  and  the  Spanish  are  practically 
limited  to  the  lyce"es  and  colleges  near  the  borders  of  these 
respective  countries ;  so  that  the  observations  which  follow 
are  based  largely  upon  the  languages  of  the  nations  immedi- 
ately east  and  immediately  west,  though,  unless  there  are 
specific  exceptions  to  the  contrary,  they  must  be  understood 
as  applying  equally  well  to  the  two  Eomance  languages. 

Modern  language  instruction  in  France  is   practically  a 
creation  of  the  nineteenth  century,  for  although  one  finds 
spasmodic  references  to  it,  at  least  ever  since 
the  days  of  the  Oratorians  and  the  Port-Eoyal-       Modern 
ists,  these  are  interesting  rather  as   showing      Language 
the  difficulty  it  found  in  making  a  place  for 
itself  in  the  program  than  as  chronicling  any  appreciable 
results  definitely  accomplished.     It  is  probable  that  Eich- 
elieu,  when  he  prescribed  "the  comparison  of  the  Greek, 
Latin,  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish  languages"  among  the 
subjects  of  instruction  of  the  college  he  was  responsible  for 
establishing  in  1640,1  was  merely  continuing  what  P.  de 
Coudren  had  already  begun  in  the  colleges  of  the  Orato- 

1  Caillet,  De  V administration  en  France  sous  Richelieu,  II.,  p.  175,  quoted 
in  Hamel,  Histoire  de  Vabbaye  et  du  college  de  Juilly,  p.  233. 


214  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

rians.  But  however  accurately  this  suggestion  may  have 
been  carried  out,  it  can  hardly  be  dignified  by  the  name 
modern  language  instruction.  Very  shortly  after  that  time, 
the  Port-Eoyalists  were  evidently  doing  something  more 
worthy  of  the  name.  Lancelot  published  his  Italian  Method 1 
and  his  Spanish  Method  in  1660,  and  Kacine  is  said  to 
have  known  both  these  languages  when  he  was  just  fresh 
from  the  school.2  Both  these  quickly  appeared  in  second 
editions,  the  former  in  1664  and  the  latter  in  1665.  In  the 
Spanish  book,  at  least,  he  was  apparently  influenced  by 
purely  utilitarian  purposes,  for  the  object  as  set  forth  in  his 
preface  is  "that  it  may  be  of  service  for  the  promotion  of 
intercourse  and  commerce  between  the  two  foremost  na- 
tions of  Europe,"  and  on  account  of  the  widespread  use 
of  the  Spanish  language,  it  will  serve  as  a  medium  of 
communication  in  "  the  East  and  the  West  Indies,  in  Europe, 
in  Africa,  in  Asia,  and  in  America." 

The  study  of  Spanish  and  Italian  also  appears  in  d'Agues- 
seau's  Instructions  a  mes  enfants,  dating  from  1716,  but  not 
published  until  1756,  written  with  the  idea  of  laying  out  a 
course  of  preparation  for  the  magistracy,  but  whether  the 
presence  of  the  study  of  these  two  languages  is  due  to  any 
connection  with  previous  efforts  or  merely  to  a  personal 
conviction  drawn  from  his  own  geueral  learning  and  broad 
scholarship  it  is  difficult  to  say.  Be  that  as  it  may,  his 
attention  was  directed  toward  higher  rather  than  second- 
ary education,  a  point  of  view  that  may  be  reflected  by 
La  Chalotais  when  he  says:  "The  modern  languages  are 
treated  almost  like  one's  contemporaries,  with  a  kind  of 
indifference  and  almost  always  slightingly.  Circumstances 
and  taste  ought  to  fix  the  time  for  them.  Ordinarily  they 
are  left  for  the  years  that  follow  education " 3  (that  is,  after 

1  Nouvellc  mAthode  pour  apprendre  facilement  et  en  pen  de  temps  la  langue 
Italienne. 

2  Compayr^,  Histoire  critique  des  doctrines  de  V Education,  en  France  depuis 
le  seizieme  siecle,  II.,  p.  260. 

8  La  Chalotais,  Essai  d' 'education  nationale,  1763,  p.  70. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  215 

the  age  of  seventeen  or  eighteen  which  he  fixed  as  the 
normal  limit).  English  and  German  were  the  two  modern 
languages  specifically  named  by  La  Chalotais,  the  former 
for  use  in  scientific  investigation,  the  latter  for  purposes  of 
military  .study.  Nevertheless,  he  gave  them  merely  a  pass- 
ing mention,  apparently  not  thinking  it  worth  while  to 
discuss  them  at  length.  This  same  La  Chalotais  is  inter- 
esting for  evidently  having  had  in  mind  a  suggestion  of 
the  direct  method  of  to-day,  when  he  pointed  out  very 
clearly  that  in  learning  a  living  language,  one  made  a 
direct  association  between  the  object  itself  and  its  name, 
whereas  in  learning  a  dead  language  the  association  was 
between  the  name  in  the  foreign  language  and  the  name 
in  the  vernacular.  As  he  put  it,  in  one  case  it  is  the 
symbol  of  an  object,  in  the  other  it  is  the  symbol  of  a 
symbol.1 

The  movement  for  the  introduction  of  modern  language 
study  into  the  curriculum  grew  but  slowly,  for  it  was  not 
recognized  as  of  sufficient  general  utility  to  warrrant  assign- 
ing it  a  place  on  the  college  programs.  Guyton  de  Mor- 
veau,  writing  in  1764,  frankly  declared  that  no  country  in 
Europe  was  interesting  itself  in  the  languages  of  its  neighbors 
less  than  France,2  a  neglect  undoubtedly  largely  due  to  the 
position  in  the  world  of  letters  and  diplomacy  that  the  French 
language  had  by  that  time  come  to  occupy.  In  following 
the  "preceptor  of  our  rival  nation  "(Locke),  he  recommends 
Italian,  English,  and  German  as  useful  for  business,  com- 
merce, and  travelling,  as  well  as  for  fine  arts,  literature,  and 
scholarship.  Although  adducing  such  broad  advantages  for 
foreign  language  study,  he  proposed  a  very  limited  scope, 
for  he  advocated  introducing  it  only  in  the  schools  of  the 
provincial  capitals,  and  of  reserving  it  almost  invariably 
until  after  the  year  of  physics,  which  was  the  crowning 
study  in  his  educational  scheme. 

1  La  Chalotais,  Essai  d' education  nationale,  1763,  p.  76. 

2  Guyton  de  Morveau,  M6moire  sur  V education  publique,  avec  le  prospectus 
d'un  college  suivant  les principcs  de  cet  ouvrage,  p.  119. 


216  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Although  demanded  by  some  of  the  Cahiers  de  1789} 
inserted  in  the  proposed  schemes  of  Talleyrand,  1791,  the 
City  of  Paris,  1793,  Romme,  1793,  Lakanal,  1795,  suggested 
furtively  by  Daunou,  1795,  for  the  Central  Schools,  tempo- 
rarily occupying  a  place  in  the  program  of  the  Prytanee, 
1801,  and  in  1814  put  on  the  same  footing  as  the  other 
"  accomplishments,"  dancing,  music,  and  fencing,  to  be  paid 
for  by  the  parents  outside  the  regular  school  fees,  modern 
language  instruction  finally  found  a  regular  place,  but  even 
then  only  as  an  optional  subject,  for  the  first  time  in  the 
program  of  1821. 2  M.  Vatimesnil*s  report  to  the  king  in 
March,  1829 3  wherein  he  referred  to  the  establishment  of 
special  sections  in  some  of  the  royal  colleges,  for  instruction 
in  science,  modern  languages,  the  theory  of  commerce,  and 
drawing,  in  an  effort  to  make  instruction  respond  "to  the 
needs  of  the  commercial,  agricultural,  industrial,  and  manu- 
facturing professions,"  a  demand  which  the  classical  learning 
had  utterly  failed  to  supply,  evidently  bore  some  fruit,  for 
modern  language  instruction  was  made  compulsory  in  the 
fall  of  1829,  only  to  be  relegated  to  the  optional  group  in  the 
following  spring.  It  was  still  being  taught  on  Thursdays  or 
during  the  interval  between  the  regular  morning  and  after- 
noon classes.  In  the  classical  course  since  1838,  and  in  the 
"modern"  course  from  the  very  beginning  in  1847,  it  has 
been  compulsory  for  everybody  at  some  time,  but  the  num- 
ber of  years  of  prescribed  work  has  been  very  variable.  The 
maximum  was  reached  in  1880,  when  modern  language  study 
appeared  in  every  year  from  the  preparatory  form  through  the 
philosophy  and  amounted  to  twenty-nine  week  hours  for 
the  whole  course  out  of  a  grand  total  of  two  hundred  and 
forty- five  hours  for  the  ten  years.  At  the  same  time  French 
had  fifty-one  hours  ;  Latin  and  Greek,  sixty  ;  science,  forty- 

1  Champion,  L 'instruction  publique  en  France  oVapres  les  cahiers  de  1789, 
in  Revue  internationale  de  V  enseignement,  1884,  II.,  p.  13. 

2  For  these  various  programs  see  Gr&ard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  II., 
Annexes,  pp.  238-250. 

8  Quoted  by  Gr^ard,  op.  cit.,  p.  253. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  217 

one;  history  and  geography,  thirty-six;  drawing,  ten;  and 
philosophy,  eight.1 

Since  that  time  there  have  been  attempts  made  to  abolish 
the  modern  languages  from  all  classes  below  the  sixth,  but 
these  have  thus  far  proved  abortive,  partly  on  instruction 
account  of  the  opposition  from  the  teachers  in  in  the  Lower 
those  classes  who  saw  themselves  in  danger  of  Classes, 
losing  the  extra  remuneration  granted  to  holders  of  the 
additional  modern  language  certificate,  but  chiefly  from  the 
parents  who  still  clung  to  this  instruction  in  the  second  year 
of  the  preparatory  division  and  in  the  eighth  and  seventh 
forms  as  constituting  the  only  outwardly  distinguishing 
characteristic  between  the  program  of  the  elementary  classes 
of  the  lyc^es  and  colleges  and  the  work  given  in  the  free 
public  primary  schools.  The  administration  thus  found 
itself  confronting  an  annoying  dilemma.  The  parents  de- 
manded these  languages  in  the  lower  classes  ;  the  authorities 
were  trying  to  co-ordinate  the  secondary  school  course  proper 
with  the  primary  school  program  so  as  to  make  an  easy 
and  natural  transition  from  the  latter  X>6  the  former.  Since 
the  lower  primary  school  program  makes  no  provision  for 
modern  languages,  to  comply  with  this  popular  demand 
meant  to  defeat  the  very  purpose  of  the  administration 
along  the  line  just  indicated.  The  languages  are  still  taught 
for  three  years  preceding  the  sixth  form,  but  only  two  hours 
per  week,  and  a  relatively  small  number  of  boys  are  entering 
the  sixth  form  direct  from  the  lower  primary  schools.  The 
result  of  putting  these  latter  into  the  class  with  boys  that 
have  been  studying  a  language  for  three  years  can  readily  be 
imagined.  The  confused  grading  reacts  both  ways :  in  the 
upper  form  in  retarding  the  class  and  in  immeasurably  in- 
creasing the  burden  of  the  teacher;  in  the  lower  forms  in 
emasculating  the  work  of  most  of  its  virility  and  seriousness. 
Such  a  condition  of  mal-grading  would  not  be  tolerated  for  a 
moment  in  the  ancient  languages  or  in  mathematics,  but  just 

1ArrU6,  Aug.  2,  1880,  Gk£ard,  op.  cit.,  Annexes,  pp.  280-281. 


218  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

at  present  there  seems  to  be  no  immediate  prospect  of  rid- 
ding the  modern  languages  of  this  incubus.  The  unsatisfac- 
tory condition  of  modern  language  instruction  in  the  lower 
classes  is  thus  not  entirely  the  fault  of  the  teachers,  although 
it  must  be  admitted  that  one  ordinarily  finds  here  the  most 
poorly  equipped  teachers,  especially  where  the  instruction  is 
entrusted,  as  is  usually  the  case,  to  the  regular  class  teachers 
that  have  done  the  extra  work  necessary  to  gain  the  certifi- 
cate required  for  this  purpose.  To  make  matters  worse,  the 
official  regulations  contain  no  specific  instructions  as  to  the 
modern  language  program  in  these  grades,  merely  dispos- 
ing of  it  with  "  two  hours  per  week."  The  recitations  that  I 
visited  in  these  elementary  classes  were  distressingly  dull, 
but  what  more  could  one  expect  when  the  recitations  come 
only  twice  a  week,  and  the  teacher  is  limited  to  the  most 
commonplace  expressions  within  the  vocabulary  furnished 
by  the  class  room  and  its  immediate  environment  ? 

In  the  upper  forms  the  official  instructions  are  most  spe- 
cific, the  years  devoted  to  modern  language  study  being 
divided  into  three  periods :  the  first  covering  the  sixth  and 
fifth  forms,  characterized  by  the  acquisition  of  a  simple 
vocabulary,  the  training  of  the  ear  and  the  vocal  chords,  and 
in  accustoming  the  pupil  to  speak  in  the  foreign  tongue ; 
the  second  period  including  the  fourth  and  third  forms, 
occupied  in  developing  the  conversational  power,  in  enlarg- 
ing the  vocabulary,  in  widening  the  basis  of  his  grammatical 
knowledge,  and  in  putting  him  in  position  to  understand 
books  and  other  publications  printed  in  the  foreign  language 
as  well  as  to  express  his  own  thought  in  the  written  lan- 
guage; the  third  period  covering  the  entire  second  cycle, 
wherein  the  language  is  sufficiently  well  known  so  that 
reading  no  longer  being  the  chief  aim,  the  pupil  may  begin 
to  learn  about  the  country  itself,  and  the  life  and  the  litera- 
ture of  its  people.1 

1  Instructions  annexed  to  the  circular  of  Nov.  15,  1901,  in  Plan  d'Uudes 
et  programmes  d' enseignement  dans  Us  lyctes  et  colleges  de  garcons,  1907-1908, 
pp.  32-33. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  219 

PROGRAMS   OF   THE   FIRST   PERIOD.     SIXTH   AND   FIFTH 

FORMS 

5  Hours  a  Week 

(Common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

Pronunciation.  —  All  the  efforts  of  the  teacher  should  be  directed 
toward  obtaining  from  the  very  first  a  good  pronunciation  and  a  correct 
accent.  In  order  to  obtain  this  he  should  pronounce  the  words  slowly, 
separating  the  syllables,  and  should  have  them  repeated  after  him, 
sometimes  by  one  pupil,  sometimes  by  several,  and  sometimes  by  all  in 
concert.    Not  until  then  should  he  write  the  word  on  the  board. 

Vocabulary.  —  The  words  should  be  taught  from  the  objects  them- 
selves, with  as  little  recourse  as  possible  to  the  mother  tongue. 

The  pupil  acquires  progressively  the  vocabulary  related  to  the  fol- 
lowing subjects: 

SIXTH  FORM 

The  Child  at  School.  Objects  that  he  uses  in  class.  Relations  with 
the  people  around  him.  Principal  actions  in  school  (I  write,  I  read,  etc.). 
Movements  about  the  class.  Parts  of  the  class  room.  Use  of  school 
furniture.    Recreation.    Games. 

Numbers  (cardinal  and  ordinal).  Simple  reckoning.  Weights  and 
measures. 

Time  and  Temperature.  Divisions  of  time.  Heat  and  cold.  Sea- 
sons (very  general  notions). 

The  Human  Body  and  its  Physical  Needs.  Food.  Clothing.  The 
senses.     Health  and  sickness. 

The  Home  and  the  Family.  Parts  of  the  house;  different  rooms; 
furniture  and  utensils.  The  members  of  the  family;  their  occupations; 
family  gatherings. 

FIFTH  FORM 

The  Country.  Appearance  of  the  country ;  atmospheric  phenomena ; 
seasons ;  plants  and  animals.  Occupations  of  the  country :  the  farmer ; 
the  vine  dresser ;  the  gardener ;  the  wood  cutter.  The  country  house : 
principal  parts.  The  domestic  animals;  use  and  services  rendered. 
Farming  implements.  Pleasures  of  the  country:  hunting  and  fishing; 
walking  and  other  modes  of  locomotion;    festivities  and  diversions. 

The  City.  Streets  (vehicles),  railway  station,  post  office,  hotel, 
theatres,  museums,  libraries,  large  and  small  shops,  markets.  The  prin- 
cipal occupations. 

Nature.    The  ocean,  rivers,  mountains,  plains,  forests,  sky. 

Very  General  Notions  of  the  Geography  of  the  Country  whose 
Language  they  are  studying. 


220  FRENCH  SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 

The  teacher  should  not  attempt  to  exhaust  the  vocabularies  of  the 
foregoing  subjects,  but  should  limit  them  to  the  words  in  ordinary  use. 
He  is  especially  cautioned  not  to  use  technical  terms  and  to  avoid 
naming  in  the  foreign  language  objects  or  parts  of  objects  unless  the 
pupils  already  know  the  French  name. 

Grammar.  Thorough  grammatical  drill  during  the  first  period. 
The  essential  point  is  that  the  ear  should  be  accustomed  to  the  form 
before  the  rule  is  given,  and  that  the  rule,  always  clear  and  concise, 
should  be  a  simple  statement  of  a  general  fact. 

Conversation.  Throughout  the  first  period,  conversation  is  at  once 
the  end  and  the  means.  The  immediate  aim  is  to  fix  the  words  in  the 
pupil's  memory,  and  to  accustom  his  ear  to  require  the  correct  form. 
The  pupil  should  always  respond  in  a  complete  sentence.  The  teacher 
should  as  soon  as  possible  use  the  foreign  language  for  whatever  he  has 
to  say. 


Written  Work.  At  first,  this  is  of  only  secondary  importance. 
From  time  to  time  dictation  exercises  may  be  profitably  used,  but  one 
ought  always  to  be  sure  that  the  text  is  already  understood. 

Text  Book.  .  .  .  Explain  new  words  by  the  aid  of  words  already 
familiar.  In  any  event  avoid  the  word-for-word  translation.  The 
teacher  will  determine  for  himself  when  he  will  put  a  book  into  the 
hands  of  his  pupils,  but  at  all  events  not  until  they  have  acquired  a  good 
pronunciation. 


SECOND   PERIOD.    FOURTH  AND  THIRD  FORMS 

5  Hours 

(Common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

1.  A  book  of  selections  containing  pictures  of  the  life  abroad,  prac- 
tical notions,  in  a  pleasant  and  brief  way,  about  commerce,  the  means  of 
communication,  the  diversions  and  the  institutions  of  the  people;  in 
other  words,  presenting  the  vocabulary  of  daily  life  in  a  series  of  con- 
nected passages. 

2.  Selected  short  stories  and  dialogues,  as  far  as  possible  giving  the 
pupils  pictures  of  contemporary  manners  and  customs  as  well  as  models 
of  style  for  their  own  stories.  This  selection  may  include  stories, 
legends,  and  poetry. 

English.  Selections  from  such  modern  authors  as:  Marryat,  Stev- 
enson, Miss  Edgeworth,  Miss  Mitford,  Miss  Montgomery,  Mrs.  Burnett, 
Ouida,  Kingsley,  Hawthorne,  Hardy,  Thomas  Hughes,  Anstey,  Rider 
Haggard,  Mary  Wilkins,  Wells,  Jerome  K.  Jerome,  etc.  Short  poems 
and  stories  in  verse  from  Cowper,  Southey,  Scott,  Wordsworth, 
Coleridge,  Campbell,  Kingsley,  Longfellow,  Morris,  Mrs.  Browning,  etc. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  221 

German.  Selections  from  such  modern  authors  as:  W.  Alexis,  M. 
von  Ebner-Eschenbach,  Fontane,  Freytag,  Ganghofer,  Gottschall, 
Hacklander,  P.  Heyse,  Hans  Hoffmann,  Hans  Hopfen,  Max  Kretzer, 
D.  von  Liliencron,  Raabe,  Riehl,  Rodenberg,  Rosegger,  Max  Schmidt, 
Spielhagen,  Stifter,  Stinde,  Storm,  Sudermann,  Wildenbruch,  Wilbrandt, 
etc. 

Italian.  A  collection  of  the  nature  of  Lapi's  edition  of  Prose  e  Poesie 
italiane  scelte  e  annotate  da  Luigi  Morandi.  L.  Capuana,  Cera  una 
volta.    Short  stories  of  C.  Collodi,  Emma  Perodi,  Ida  Baccini. 

Spanish.  Extracts  from  modern  authors,  such  as  the  narratives, 
short  stories,  and  anecdotes  of  Trueba,  Fernan  Caballero,  Pereda,  Fer- 
nandez Bremon,  Carlos  Rubio,  Eduardo  Bustillo,  Narciso  Campillo, 
Ruiz  Aguilera,  Castro  y  Serrano,  Valera,  Pardo  Bazan,  Eusebio  Blasco, 
Fernanflor,  Palacio  Vald<§s,  Salvador  Rueda,  Blasco  Ibanez,  etc. 

If  the  teacher  prefers  to  use  a  more  connected  text,  he  may  choose 
one  of  the  works  named  below : 

English.  Hawthorne,  Tanglewood  Tales,  Wonder  Book.  Kingsley, 
The  Heroes,  Water  Babies.  Halliwell,  Popular  Rhymes  and  Nursery 
Tales.  Swift,  Gulliver's  Travels.  Kipling,  First  Jungle  Book  (extracts). 
Lady  Barker,  Station  Life  in  New  Zealand.  Miss  Montgomery,  Mis- 
understood. Goldsmith,  Vicar  of  Wakefield.  Johnson,  Rasselas.  Sir 
John  Lubbock,  Pleasures  of  Life. 

German.  Grimm,  Mdrchen.  Bechstein,  Deutsche  Mdrchen.  Hauff, 
Mdrchen.  Goethe,  Der  neue  Paris  (W.  u.  D.  II),  das  Puppenspiel  (W. 
Meister  I,  2-7),  die  gefdhrliche  Wette  ( Wander jahre,  III.,  8).  Rosegger, 
Waldjugend,  Als  ich  noch  der  Waldbauernbub  war.  Stifter,  Granit,  Der 
Waldsteig.  Storm,  Pole  Poppenspdler,  Geschichten  aus  der  Tonne.  M. 
von  Ebner-Eschenbach,  Krambambuli,  Schloss-  und  Dorf geschichten. 
Wildenbruch,  Neid,  Kindertrdnen.    G.  Keller,  Kleider  Machen  Leute. 

Italian.  Silvio  Pellico,  Le  mie  Prigioni.  Giovanni  Dupr6,  Pensieri 
sulV  arte  e  ricordi  autobiografici.  Emilio  de  Marchi,  L'Etd  preziosa. 
Giovanni  Verga,  Storia  di  una  capinera.  Edmondo  De  Amicis,  Cuore, 
Alle  porte  d' Italia,  La  vita  militare.  Antonio  Fogazzaro,  Daniele 
Cortis.    Ida  Baccini,  La  storia  di  Firenze  narrata  a  scuola. 

Spanish.  Extracts  from  Don  Quijote.  Selected  fables  (Saman- 
iego,  Iriarte,  J&rica,  Hartzenbusch,  etc.).  Fernan  Caballero,  Cuentos, 
oraciones,  adivinas  y  refranes  populares  6  infantiles.  A.  de  Trueba, 
Cuentos  populares,  Cuentos  campesinos,  El  libro  de  los  Cantares,  Narra- 
ciones  populares,  Frontaura,  Las  tiendas. 

Russian.  Tolstoi,  Tourguenev,  Gogol.  Lermontov,  Bella.  Pouch- 
kine,  Boris  Boulba. 

A  newspaper  may  replace  one  of  the  above  named  books,  but  only 
on  condition  that  all  the  pupils  subscribe  for  it. 


222  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

THIRD   PERIOD.      SECOND  AND  FIRST  FORMS 

2  Hours1 
(Common  to  Sections  A,  B,  C,  and  D) 

1.  Reading  based  upon  history,  geography,  science,  arts,  and  in- 
dustry. 

2.  Selections  from  the  masterpieces  of  the  literature,  or  from  one  of 
the  following  works : 

SECOND  FORM 

English.  Sheridan,  The  School  for  Scandal.  Goldsmith,  She  Stoops 
to  Conquer.  Irving,  Rip  Van  Winkle,  Spectre  Bridegroom,  Legend  of 
Sleepy  Hollow.  Stevenson,  Treasure  Island.  Longfellow,  Tales  of  a 
Wayside  Inn  (extracts).  W.  Morris,  The  Earthly  Paradise  (extracts). 
Macaulay,  Essays  (extracts).    Dickens,  Christmas  Carol. 

German.  Selections  from  lyric  poetry:  Burger,  Goethe,  Schiller, 
Tieck,  A.  W.  and  F.  Schlegel,  Chamisso,  Uhland,  A.  Griin,  Lenau,  Ruck- 
ert,  Platen,  Heine,  etc.  Extracts  from  Goethe's  prose  works:  Werther, 
Wilhelm  Meister,  Briefe  aus  der  Schweiz,  Italienische  Reise. 

Italian.  Selections  from  Ariosto,  M6tastase,  Goldoni,  Monti,  Gozzi, 
UOsservatore.    Alfieri,  Vita.    Manzoni,  /  promessi  sposi. 

Spanish.  Selections  from  classic  lyric  poetry.  Anthology  of  modern 
and  contemporary  poets.  Extracts  from  the  Romancero.  Short  stories 
of  Pedro  de  Alarcon,  Valera,  Trueba,  Pardo  Bazan,  etc.  Selected  scenes 
from  the  contemporary  Saynetes  (Javier  de  Burgos,  Vital  Aza,  Ramos 
Carrion,  Ricardo  de  la  Vega,  etc.)-  Cervantes,  Don  Quijote.  Moratin, 
El  si  de  las  Ninas.  Quintana,  Vidas  de  espanoles  celebres.  Mesonero 
Romanos,  Escenas  Matritenses. 

FIRST  FORM 

English.  Shakespeare,  Julius  C&sar,  Macbeth.  Extracts  from 
Milton,  Addison,  Goldsmith  (prose  and  poetry),  Wordsworth.  Byron, 
Prisoner  of  Chillon.  Coleridge,  The  Ancient  Mariner.  Dickens,  David 
Copperfield  (abridged  edition).  Macaulay,  extracts  from  the  History 
of  England.  Eliot,  Scenes  of  Clerical  Life,  Silas  Marner.  Tennyson, 
Enoch  Arden,  The  Brook,  Ulysses,  The  Lotus  Eaters.  Thackeray,  Eng- 
lish Humorists. 

German.  Dramatic  Poetry:  Schiller,  Wilhelm  Tell,  Maria  Stuart, 
Jungfrau  von  Orleans,  Wallenstein.  Goethe,  Iphigenie,  Tasso,  Egmont, 

1  Besides  this,  Sections  B  and  D  have  one  hour  per  week  additional  on  the 
language  already  begun,  and  four  hours  for  the  second  language.  In  the 
latter  case,  the  texts  are  chosen  from  the  list  indicated  for  ordinary  use  in 
the  fourth  and  third  forms. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  223 

Faust,  I.,  Goetz  von  Berlichingen.  Kleist,  Prinz  von  Homburg.  Grill- 
parzer,  Historische  Dramen.  Extracts  from  the  prose  of  Wieland, 
Goethe  (Dichtung  und  Wahrheit,  Kampagne  in  Frankreich,  Die  fran- 
zosische  Liter  atur),  Schiller,  Novalis,  Immermann,  Auerbach,  Freytag, 
Scheffel,  G.  Keller,  K.  F.  Meyer,  Heyse,  etc. 

Italian.  Selections  from  Boccaccio,  Petrarch,  Vasari,  Alfieri,  Cas- 
tiglione,  II  Cortigiano.  Cellini,  Vita.  Parini,  II  Giorno,  Le  Odi.  Tasso, 
selections  from  La  Gerusalemme  liber ata.  Extracts  from  contemporary 
novelists  (especially  A.  Fogazzaro,  Renato  Fucini,  L.  Capuana,  G. 
Verga,  M.  Serao). 

Spanish.  Cervantes,  Don  Quijote.  Selections  from  Novelas  exem- 
plar es.  Extracts  from  the  historians:  Mendoza,  Mariana,  Solis,  Melo, 
Quintana,  Toreno,  etc.  Selections  from  the  classic  and  the  modern 
plays,  such  as:  Castro,  Mocedades  del  Cid.  Alarcon,  Verdad  sospe- 
chosa.  Calderon,  La  vida  es  sueno.  Moreto,  El  desden  con  el  desden. 
Moratin,  El  cafe.  Selected  scenes  from  Breton  de  los  Herreros,  Rubl, 
Eguilaz,  Tamayo,  Ayala,  Echegaray,  etc.    Larra,  Articulos  de  costumbres. 


PHILOSOPHY  AND   MATHEMATICS  FORMS  ■ 

(Philosophy  A,  2  hours,  optional ;  Mathematics  A,  2  hours ;  Philosophy 
B  and  Mathematics  B,  1  hour,  and  2  hours  additional,  distributed 
according  to  the  choice  of  the  pupils.) 

1.  Extracts  from  the  principal  historians,  critics,  and  philosophers. 

2.  Selected  readings  from  nineteenth  century  literature : 
English.     Emerson,    English   Traits.      Spencer,   Selected   essays. 

Stuart  Mill,  Autobiography.  Arnold,  Culture  and  Anarchy.  Ruskin,  On 
the  Nature  of  Gothic  (Stones  of  Venice,  II.).  Carlyle,  Essay  on  Goethe,  and 
Essay  on  Burns.  Seeley,  The  Expansion  of  England.  Keats,  extracts. 
Byron,  Childe  Harold,  canto  III.  Extracts  from  Tennyson,  Robert 
Browning,  Mrs.  Browning,  and  from  the  poems  of  Kipling. 

Italian.  Selections  from  Dante,  Foscolo,  Giusti,  Leopardi,  Mach- 
iavelli,  a  collection  of  the  nature  of  Finzi's  Crestomazia  machiavellica. 
Galilee,  Prose  scelte.  A.  Fogazzaro,  critical  and  philosophical  writings 
(L'Origine  delV  Homo,  Per  la  Bellezza  d'un  'idea,  II  dolore  nelV  arte,  etc.). 

Spanish.  Extracts  from  the  moralists  (Guevara,  Quevedo,  Gracian, 
Granada,  Leon) ;  and  from  the  critics  (Quintana,  Martinez  de  la  Rosa, 
Lista,  Valera,  Men6ndez  Pelayo,  etc.).  Contemporary  lyric  poetry 
(Espronceda,  Zorilla,  BScquer,  Compoamor,  Nunez  de  Arce,  etc.). 
Selections  from  the  "Picaresques,"  and  the  contemporary  novelists. 

Such  is  the  list  of  authors  from  which  the  modern  lan- 
guage texts  are  to  be  chosen  for  the  last  five  years  of  the 
regular  course.  Aside  from  the  query  that  is  likely  to  come 
into  one's  mind  on  the  advisability  of  including  such  authors 

1  See  also  page  236. 


224  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

as  Marryat,  Miss  Edgeworth,  Miss  Mitford,  Miss  Montgom- 
ery, Ouida,  Anstey,  Eider  Haggard,  and  Wells,  that  are 
jt  i  t  *  found  in  the  second  period,  in  any  such  repre- 
American  Au-  sentative  list  of  English  authors  for  school 
thors.  purposes,1  and  the  probable  desire  of  most 
Americans  to  see  more  of  our  own  authors  represented,  one 
finds  a  broad  and  on  the  whole"  a  good  selection  from  which 
to  choose.  One  might  reasonably  expect,  however,  to  find 
more  than  five  American  authors  in  a  list  of  fifty-two  Eng- 
lish-speaking writers,  especially  when  the  above-mentioned 
names  are  included.  It  would  seem  as  though  the  present 
position  of  the  United  States  in  the  commercial,  industrial, 
and  agricultural  world  would  merit  the  wider  acquaintance 
with  the  manners,  customs,  and  ideals  of  the  people  that 
could  only  be  obtained  from  their  own  literature.  There 
may  be  some  excuse  for  the  common  failure,  even  among 
reasonably  intelligent  people  in  France,  to  distinguish  geo- 
graphically between  an  inhabitant  of  Eio  Janeiro  and  one  of 
New  York,  when  one  finds  an  English  reading  book  issued 
from  the  press  of  an  English  publishing  house  that  enjoys 
an  international  reputation,  and  now  in  regular  use  in  at 
least  one  modern  language  class  in  France,  the  following 
sentence  on  the  United  States :  "  Bisons  are  being  gradually 
driven  westward,  and  are  now  never  found  east  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi." On  the  other  hand,  it  is  a  pleasure  to  read  accu- 
rate though  meagre  information  about  the  United  States 
in  some  of  the  newer  text-books2  for  use  in  the  English 
classes. 

1  The  writer  refrains  from  criticising  the  list  of  authors  in  the  other  mod- 
ern languages,  but  he  feels  reasonably  sure  that  a  similar  criticism  might  be 
passed  upon  them.  Certainly  one  has  reason  to  question  the  exclusion  of 
some  of  the  German  writers. 

2  Gricourt-Kuhn,  England  past  and  present.  Part  L,  Geography  and 
History.  Part  II.,  Literature.  These  two  volumes  are  mainly  compilations 
of  well-chosen  extracts  from  the  best  English  writers,  together  with  just 
enough  connecting  material  by  the  authors  themselves  to  give  as  intelligent 
a  notion  of  the  development  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  and  literature  from  the 
very  beginning  down  to  1907  as  is  possible,  considering  the  extremely  cursory 
nature  of  the  material  in  hand. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  225 

"All  that  we  have  just  said  about  teaching  the  ancient 
languages"  (basing  it  upon  a  serious  course  in  grammar) 
"can  and  ought  to  be  applied  equally  to  the     . 

,       .  j*         n       •        i  „  i  i    •        Direct  Method 

study  of  modern  foreign  languages,  /  explains  —Weakness 
very  tersely  the  heavy  burden  that  oppressed  in  H*  Appli- 
modern  language  instruction  until  the  reform 
instituted  in  1901.  Although  preceding  the  new  secondary 
school  program  by  a  few  months,  this  change  must  never- 
theless be  reckoned  as  a  part  of  the  general  reorganization. 
Since  that  time  modern  language  instruction  has  been  vi- 
talized by  the  application  of  a  new  method  that  does  not 
confound  the  teaching  of  a  language  whose  chief  benefit  is 
attributed  to  the  mental  drill  involved  in  its  acquisition  with 
that  wherein  the  value  consists  primarily  in  the  ultimate 
ability  to  handle  the  language  practically.  The  modifica- 
tions in  modern  language  teaching  are  thus  unquestionably 
the  most  significant  of  all  those  effected  by  the  reform 
program,  for  they  not  only  indicate  a  radical  change  of 
practice,  but,  what  is  more  important  still,  they  show  a  fun- 
damental change  of  aim.  One  is  impelled  to  question  if  the 
program  in  specifying  that  "the  literary  culture  properly 
speaking  will  always  be  subordinate  to  the  spoken  or  written 
use  of  the  language,  which  remains  the  principal  object  of 
all  its  instruction,"2  is  not  too  readily  allowing  proximate 
utility  to  dominate.  The  old  instruction  was  certainly  too 
grammatical,  literary,  and,  formal.  Is  not  the  new  too  crassly 
utilitarian  ?  Aside  from  the  graduate  classes  preparing  for 
the  normal  school,  the  instruction  in  most  of  the  others  that 
I  visited  reflected  the  evident  desire  of  the  professor  who 
said,  in  criticising  the  methods  formerly  employed :  "  I  read 
Byron  in  my  year  in  the  philosophy  form,  and  I  should  not 
have  been  able  to  order  my  luncheon  in  a  London  restau- 
rant." It  is  now  doubtless  true  that  "  the  pupils  on  returning 
from  a  trip  abroad  can  tell  us  in  confidence  how,  thanks  to 

1  Maneuvrier,  U  Education  de  le  bourgeoisie  sous  la  rtpublique,  3me  ed., 
1888,  p.  192. 

2  Instructions  annexes  a  la  circulaire  du  15  Novembre,  1901,  §  9. 

15 


226  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  recollection  of  the  colored  pictures  commented  upon  in 
the  lyc£e,  they  were  intelligent  guides  and  trustworthy  inter- 
preters for  their  families " ;  but  is  this  the  goal  of  modern 
language  instruction?  In  the  recoil  from  the  undisputed 
evils  of  the  old  methods,  has  not  the  present  exaltation  of 
the  immediately  useful  forced  the  student  to  forego  that 
acquaintance  with  the  great  fundamental  ideals  that  underlie 
the  expression  of  the  national  action, — an  acquaintance  that 
can  come  only  from  wide  and  wisely  chosen  reading?  If 
the  pupils  could  learn  to  know  a  goodly  proportion  of  the 
books  named  on  the  program,  such  an  end  might  be  ap- 
proximated ;  but  even  from  the  fourth  form  up  through  the 
higher  classes  many  a  class  is  limited  to  two  or  three  books 
a  year.  The  necessary  reduction  of  reading  matter  to  this 
minimum  naturally  forces  one  to  characterize  the  direct 
method  as  it  is  ordinarily  worked  out  in  the  secondary 
schools  to-day  as  manifestly  superficial.  On  the  other  hand, 
one  occasionally  finds  an  enthusiastic  teacher  who  says  with 
justifiable  pride :  "  Oh,  yes,  in  the  course  as  a  whole,  some  of 
my  boys  read  forty  or  fifty  books,  for  they  are  passionately 
interested  in  the  work,  but  naturally  I  cannot  require  all  to 
do  that." 

The  direct  method,  which  is  none  other  than  a  modifica- 
tion of  that  promoted  by  Dr.  Vietor  of  Marburg  a  little  more 
™  L  .  L.  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  is  essentially  a 
conversational  method  Although  one  does  not 
find  every  individual  modern  language  teacher  in  the  French 
secondary  schools  applying  the  official  instructions  as  unre- 
servedly as  the  general  inspectors  might  wish,  yet  even  the 
older  teachers  in  whom  the  habit  furrows  have  been  worn 
deep  by  years  of  practice  along  classical  lines,  are  making 
sincere  efforts  to  adapt  themselves  to  the  new  order  of  things. 
In  a  few  classes  that  I  visited,  not  one  word  of  the  mother 
tongue  was  uttered  from  the  beginning  of  the  hour  until  the 
end.  In  fact  even  the  pupils  that  came  up  after  the  class 
were  compelled  to  confine  themselves  to  the  foreign  language. 
In  a  still   smaller  number  of   classes  I  found  considerable 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  227 

direct  translation  into  the  French  intermingled  with  a  goodly 
amount  of  conversation  in  the  foreign  tongue.  In  the  main, 
however,  save  for  occasional  recourse  to  the  vernacular  to 
clear  up  difficulties,  one  might  fairly  say  that  the  classes  as 
a  whole  were  conducted  entirely  in  the  foreign  languages. 
The  teacher  spoke  in  the  foreign  tongue,  the  pupil  read  in 
the  foreign  tongue,  and  then  used  the  same  medium  to  ex- 
plain what  he  had  just  read.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  use  a 
foreign  language  to  summarize  or  to  give  an  abstract  of  what 
one  has  just  read  in  that  language,  but  when  one  is  required 
to  paraphrase  or  to  give  a  word-for-word  explanation  without 
recourse  to  the  vernacular,  the  difficulty  is  considerably  en- 
hanced. Yet  this  latter  is  done  from  the  very  first.  The 
best  exponents  of  the  direct  method  compel  their  pupils  to 
act  as  much  as  possible  like  English,  or  German,  or  Italian, 
or  Spanish  bo,ys  throughout  the  whole  of  the  hour. 

In  order  still  further  to  carry  out  this  illusion,  many  of 
the  modern  language  teachers,  especially  the  English,  have 
fairly  covered  the  walls  of  their  class  room  with 
maps  of  England,  plans  of  London,  posters,  and  ^tS™ 
notices  of  various  kinds,  all  in  the  foreign  lan- 
guage. Bill-board  advertisements  of  plays  (one  that  I  saw 
must  have  covered  at  least  forty  square  feet),  military  dis- 
plays, county  fairs,  bicycles,  automobile  accessories,  etc.,  were 
frequent.  "  Cyclists  and  motorists  —  speed  not  to  exceed 
five  miles  an  hour,"  "Time  is  money,"  and  other  similar 
signs  were  on  the  walls  of  one  class  room.  Sometimes  these 
formed  a  mere  heterogeneous  collection,  but  at  others  the  se- 
lection and  arrangement  displayed  considerable  taste  on  the 
part  of  the  teacher.  Photographs  of  London  landmarks  and 
scenes  typical  of  English  life,  together  with  well-chosen  sets 
of  picture  postal  cards,  gave  evidence  that  the  trips  to  Eng- 
land, which  many  of  these  teachers  make  regularly,  had  had 
some  other  aim  than  mere  pleasure  seeking. 

Not  a  little  zest  is  added  to  the  work  of  the  upper  classes 
by  the  foreign  correspondence  carried  on  by  some  of  the 
pupils,  a  practice  that  is  productive  of  much  good  on  both 


228  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

sides.     Many  a  boy  in  the  French  lyc^es  has  a  correspond- 
ent in  England  or  Germany,  or  even  in  America,  whom  he 

knows  only  by  letter  and  an  occasional  ex- 
Aids  to  Lan-    change  of  photographs.      Each  one  writes  in 
guage  Acquisi-  the  other's  language,  and  the  best  results  are 

obtained  when  the  recipient  of  the  letter  is  will- 
ing to  take  the  trouble  to  correct  the  errors  of  his  friend  across 
the  border.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  these  relationships 
that  I  found  was  that  of  an  older  pupil  in  a  small  but  illus- 
trious provincial  college  who  had  a  correspondent  in  Esper- 
anto in  Portland,  Maine.  In  the  Academy  of  Dijon,  where 
this  college  happens  to  be  situated,  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
interest  in  Esperanto,  largely  due  to  the  enthusiasm  of  the 
rector,  so  that  pupils  in  some  of  the  secondary  schools,  some 
of  the  normal  schools,  and  even  in  some  of  the  higher  pri- 
mary schools  have  an  opportunity  to  take  up  the  study  of 
this  international  language  as  an  elective  subject.  The 
direct  method  enthusiasts  practically  neglect,  or  at  least 
do  not  fully  appreciate,  one  cardinal  difficulty  that  must 
always  stand  in  the  way  of  the  strict  application  of  this 
method;  even  under  the  most  favorable  conditions  the 
foreign  environment  may  be  simulated  for  five  or  at  most 
ten  hours  a  week,  but  for  the  other  one  hundred  hours, 
approximately  speaking,  of  his  waking  time,  the  pupil  is 
surrounded  by  conditions  that  are  exclusively  French. 

In  order  to  ameliorate  this  situation  the  Ministry  has 
recently  *  arranged  for  an  interchange  of  assistants  by  which 

prospective   teachers   of   French  in  the  other 
Assistants      countries   come   to   France   for  assignment  to 

various  lyce*es,  and  young  French  students  are 
reciprocally  sent  abroad  to  spend  one  or  more  terms  in  one 
of  the  foreign  schools.     The  arrangement  is  ordinarily   for 

1  In  the  girls'  primary  normal  schools,  a  similar  arrangement  has  been  in 
vogue  since  1894.  The  conventions  between  the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruc- 
tion in  France  and  the  corresponding  authorities  abroad  with  regard  to 
secondary  schools  were  signed  :  with  Prussia  and  England  in  1905  (the  agree- 
ment with  the  latter  country  extending  also  to  the  primary  normal  schools 
and  to  the  higher  primary  schools),  with  Austria,  Saxony,  and  Spain  in  1907. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  229 

a  year,  although  it  may  continue  for  only  six  months,  or 
it  may  be  extended  to  two  years.  In  France  the  foreigners 
receive  their  living  at  the  lyce'e,  and  in  return  spend  a 
couple  of  hours  per  day  in  conversing  with  the  modern 
language  pupils,  taking  them  by  turns  in  small  groups. 
While  the  French  official  in  charge  of  these  arrangements 
receives  applications  for  appointment  to  these  foreign  posts, 
and  sends  the  papers  of  each  candidate  to  the  corresponding 
office  abroad,  his  function  is  chiefly  that  of  a  discriminating 
forwarding  agent,  the  actual  choice  being  left  to  the  foreign 
office.  Similarly,  it  is  the  French  official  who  selects  the 
foreign  assistants  appointed  in  France.  The  minimum  qual- 
ification of  the  French  candidates  is  the  possession  of  the 
master's  degree,  while  the  foreign  governments  require  an 
equivalent  academic  standing  from  the  young  men  they  send 
abroad.  This  movement  which  began  very  modestly  is  now 
expanding  rapidly,  and  is  apparently  meeting  with  success 
and  consequent  hearty  support  wherever  the  experiment  is 
tried.1  It  is  bound  to  render  valuable  assistance  in  supply- 
ing a  real  foreign  flavor  and  a  point  of  view  that  must  almost 
inevitably  be  lacking  in  a  native  foreign  language  teacher, 
however  fluent  may  be  his  command  of  the  spoken  language. 
These  foreign  language  assistants  to  a  certain  extent 
supply  the  place  of  modern  language  clubs.  It  has  never 
been  my  good  fortune  to  find  such  organiza-  Modem 
tions  in  the  secondary  schools,  though  I  am  Language 
told  they  exist.  It  seems  rather  strange  that  Clubs. 
the  idea  of  the  English  clubs  in  the  lyc^e  at  Alencon 2  has 
not  been  more  widely  adopted.  Here  there  were  two  organ- 
izations, one  for  the  younger  pupils  and  the  other  for  the 
older.  Each  group  subscribed  to  an  English  magazine,  the 
older  one  in  addition  taking  one  of  the  Paris  daily  papers 
printed  in  English.     Besides  the  conversation  based  upon  the 

1  According  to  the  figures  obtained  from  the  office  of  M.  Friedel  who  has 
charge  of  this  work  at  the  Musee  pedagogique,  Paris,  in  1907-8,  there  were 
sixty-nine  of  these  English  assistants  and  seventy-five  German. 

2  Francois,  La  conversation  et  la  lecture  dans  V&ude  des  langues  vivantes, 
in  Revue  universitaire,  1902,  I.,  p.  46. 


230  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

material  obtained  from  these  two  sources,  the  club  meetings 
on  Thursdays  were  further  enlivened  by  recitations,  songs, 
and  dialogues.  The  one-franc  entrance  fee,  together  with 
weekly  dues  of  ten  centimes  and  absence  fines  of  half  that 
amount  furnished  the  funds  for  the  running  expenses.  The 
fact  that  there  was  no  president,  each  member  in  turn  pre- 
siding at  the  meetings,  shows  the  typically  French  idea  of 
such  a  school  organization,  wherein  the  direction  is  carefully 
centered  in  the  hands  of  the  class  teacher. 

Where  so  much  depends  upon  the  skill  of  the  individual 
teacher  and  where  mere  routine  plays  such  an  insignificant 
part,  it  is  not  surprising  to  find  less  similarity 
between  two  English  or  two  German  classes 
than  between  two  classes  in  any  other  subject  of  the  curric- 
ulum. Wherever  the  direct  method  is  tried  consistently  its 
results  are  certainly  striking.  Although  the  English  th  and 
the  r  constantly  give  trouble  throughout  the  course,  and  the 
intonation  of  the  sentence  often  leaves  much  to  be  desired, 
some  of  the  French  boys  that  I  saw  spoke  remarkably  well, 
and  on  the  occasions  when  I  was  asked  to  address  them,  they 
succeeded  unusually  well  in  understanding  what  I  had  to 
say.  Of  course  their  vocabulary  is  limited,  but  when  one 
confines  himself  to  the  words  they  know,  they  seem  to  have 
little  difficulty  in  following.  Many  of  those  that  I  put  to 
the  test  repeated  in  English  the  substance  of  what  I  had 
said,  and  the  others,  save  for  one  or  two  exceptions,  were  all 
able  to  give  it  in  French.  One  is  compelled  to  admit  that 
the  direct  method  does  enable  the  pupils  to  understand  the 
spoken  foreign  language  and  does  give  a  certain  facility  in 
its  use.  As  a  rule,  however,  the  number  of  pages  read  by 
the  class  is  comparatively  small,  in  many  cases  not  exceeding 
one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  during  the  whole  year, 
but  whatever  is  done  is  thoroughly  done.  The  words  con- 
tained therein  become  a  part  of  not  only  the  visual  and  the 
written  vocabulary,  but  also  of  the  aural  and  the  oral.  As  in 
the  acquisition  of  the  mother  tongue,  the  two  latter  come 
first  and  really  provide  the  means  by  which  the  former  are 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  231 

gained.  The  approach  is  made  through  the  utterance  of  the 
teacher  and  is  subsequently  carried  on  through  its  repetition 
by  the  pupil  before  the  latter  is  brought  face  to  face  with 
the  written  thought.  In  the  final  stage,  the  pupil  is  led  to 
express  himself  on  paper.  From  first  to  last  the  stress  is 
emphatically  upon  the  oral  expression.  It  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  ability,  being  so  dependent  upon  special 
training  of  the  ear  and  the  vocal  chords,  aside  entirely  from 
the  facility  in  idiomatic  construction  involved  therein,  and 
being  consequently  so  much  a  matter  of  practice,  most  easily 
falls  into  desuetude  if  these  particular  language  habits  are 
not  kept  in  training.  Skill  in  reading,  on  the  other  hand, 
where  this  aural  and  vocal  training  are  not  involved,  seems 
to  pass  much  less  readily.  The  question  immediately  arises : 
"  Do  the  permanent  results  attained  justify  the  distribution 
of  emphasis  between  conversation  and  reading  ? " 

Such  is  the  place  accorded  this  oral  work  that  throughout 
the  whole  first  period,  the  sixth  and  fifth  forms,  the  teachers 
have  no  official  list  from  which  to  select  their  reading  mate- 
rial. During  these  two  years,  effort  is  mainly  directed 
toward  forming  a  correct  pronunciation,  acquiring  a  working 
vocabulary,  and  learning  enough  grammar  for  intelligent  and 
accurate  oral  and  written  expression.  In  pursuance  of  this 
purpose,  the  great  majority  of  the  teachers  put  into  the  hands 
of  their  pupils  one  of  the  several  excellent  beginning  mod- 
ern language  books  that  have  appeared  since  the  new  pro- 
gram went  into  effect.  The  teacher  does  not  hesitate, 
however,  to  depart  widely  from  the  limits  of  the  text- 
book in  order  to  find  illustrative  material  as  a  basis  for 
conversational,  written,  or  memory  work.  Learning  by  heart 
plays  almost  as  important  a  part  here  as  in  instruction  in 
the  classics  and  in  French,  but  an  assignment  is  never  set 
for  memorizing  without  previously  being  read  aloud  by  the 
professor  and  most  carefully  explained,  always  in  the  foreign 
language.  This  often  taxes  the  ingenuity  and  skill  of  the 
teacher,  particularly  when  it  comes  to  the  explanation  of 
abstract  nouns,  but   aided   by  pantomime    and   illustrative 


232  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


example,  he  is  seldom  compelled  to  seek  refuge  in  the 
vernacular. 

The  following  extracts  from  my  note  book  will  give  an 

idea  of  the  way  this  conversational  method  is  handled  in  a 

beginning  class.     It  shows  the  association  of 

Cpract£Tn  action  and  sPeecn-  It  was  a  sixth  form  of 
forty-five  pupils.  The  notes  were  written  in 
December,  the  class  having  begun  the  October  before. 
Teacher  — "  Lift  up  your  hand."  Class  (in  concert  and  . 
suiting  the  action  to  the  word)  —  "I  lift  up  my  hand."  T.  — 
"  Lift  up  your  right  hand,  your  left  hand,  both  hands.  Shut 
your  right  eye,  your  left  eye,  both  eyes."  The  pupils  obeyed 
each  command  of  the  teacher,  telling  at  the  same  time  what 
each  was  doing.  T.  —  "  Where  is  your  nose,  your  cheek, 
your  chin  ? "  Pupils  —  "  This  is  my  nose,"  etc.  T.  — 
"  Point  to  the  ceiling,  the  floor,"  and  so  on  through  various 
parts  of  and  objects  in  the  class  room.  Pupils  —  "I  point 
to  the  ceiling,  the  floor,"  etc.  One  boy  was  called  up  before 
the  class  to  go  through  the  same  process.  Then  the  practice 
was  varied  by  going  around  the  class,  each  pupil  telling  his 
neighbor  to  perform  some  one  of  these  actions,  the  boy  doing 
as  he  was  told  and  at  the  same  time  telling  what  he  was 
doing.  This  was  followed  by  short  dictation  of  five  or  six 
lines,  afterwards  corrected  by  the  writers  with  the  open  text 
before  them.  The  memory  work  for  the  day  was  "  Baa,  baa, 
black  sheep,"  first  recited  in  concert  and  then  by  three  or 
four  individually,  the  teacher's  corrections  being  almost 
exclusively  applied  to  the  latter.  This  collective  work,  which 
by  the  way  is  most  inconsiderately  used  by  many  of  the 
direct  method  teachers,  is  more  objectionable  in  modern 
language  work  than  in  most  subjects,  for  the  details  of 
pronunciation  are  nowhere  else  so  important.  In  more  than 
one  English  class  that  I  visited  where  this  concert  method 
was  in  use,  I  was  absolutely  unable  to  catch  more  than  an 
isolated  word  or  phrase.  Under  these  conditions  it  is  per- 
fectly evident  that  the  teacher  could  not  notice  and  correct 
even  a  fair  share  of  the  individual  errors.     In  this  class  in 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  233 

question,  the  last  quarter  of  the  hour  was  devoted  to  a  very 
well  developed  preparation  for  the  next  lesson,  which  was  on 
the  progressive  form  of  the  verb. 

In  a  third  form  class,  this  conversational  method  follows 
along  much  the  same  general  lines,  but  it  is  no  longer  mere 
parrot  work,  and  correspondingly  more  is  required  of  the 
class,  as  the  following  example  will  indicate :  Teacher  (in 
preparation  for  the  next  day's  memory  work)  —  "I  will  read 
the  next  lesson  by  myself."  Class  (in  concert)  —  "  You  will 
read  the  next  lesson  by  yourself."  T.  —  "I  will  read  it  first, 
and  you  will  read  it  after  me."  Class  —  "  You  will  read  it 
first,  and  we  will  read  it  after  you."  The  teacher  then  read 
the  whole  stanza  through,  afterwards  reading  one  line  at  a 
time  and  having  the  class  read  after  him.  Then  he  read  it 
all  through  again,  the  class  doing  likewise,  and  finally  the 
teacher  went  over  it  once  more,  carefully  explaining  in 
English  all  the  new  or  difficult  expressions. 

The  most  advanced  and  in  many  respects  the  best  work 
I  saw  was  in  a  higher  rhetoric  form,  a  class  preparing  for 
the  normal  school.  The  teacher,  although  a  Frenchman 
born  and  bred,  who,  as  I  afterwards  learned,  had  never  spent 
more  than  a  few  weeks  at  a  time  in  England,  had  a  perfect 
mastery  of  English,  so  much  so  that  at  the  end  of  the  two 
hours  spent  in  his  class  I  was  utterly  unable  to  determine 
whether  he  were  English  or  French.  It  was  an  unprepared 
lesson,  which  reproduced  as  nearly  as  possible  the  conditions 
of  the  examination  the  pupils  would  have  to  face  at  the  end 
of  the  year.  The  text  chosen  was  King  Henry  IV.,  Pt.  II, 
Act  IV.,  Scene  v.  Each  one  was  given  fifteen  minutes  to 
look  over  his  assignment  of  ten  or  twenty  lines.  He  read 
it  through  in  English,  then  explained  the  text,  interpreting 
the  figures  and  allusions,  and  commenting  upon  peculiarities 
of  form  or  expression  that  seemed  to  him  necessary.  In 
case  of  important  omissions  the  teacher  asked  for  explana- 
tion of  particular  words  or  phrases.  Finally  the  pupil  trans- 
lated the  whole  into  the  best  French  at  his  command. 
Aside  from  the  last  translation,  the  work  was  entirely  in 


234  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

English,  and  barring  certain  weaknesses  in  pronunciation 
and  inflection,  it  was  all  remarkably  good.  It  must  be 
noted  in  passing  that  these  fellows  were  not  ordinary  lyc^e 
pupils,  for  they  were  all  one  or  two  years  beyond  their 
baccalaureate,  and  had  consequently  been  studying  English 
for  seven  or  eight  years ;  they  formed  one  of  a  number  of 
preliminary  groups  from  which  the  modern  language  teach- 
ers of  five  or  six  years  hence  would  be  recruited. 

It  is  still  too  early  to  pass  judgment  on  the  definite  re- 
sults obtained  under  the  application  of  the  new  method,  for 
this  year,  1908,  is  the  first  time  when  one  will 
find  pupils  coming  up  for  the  baccalaureate 
that  have  been  trained  exclusively  under  this  system.  As 
far  as  one  is  able  to  judge  from  the  expressions  of  indi- 
vidual teachers,  I  find  very  general  satisfaction  with  the 
scheme,  but,  of  course,  the  details  of  the  method  must  be 
worked  out  each  one  for  himself  in  accordance  with  the 
teacher's  peculiar  temperament  and  capability,  and  then 
adapted  to  fit  the  needs  and  capacity  of  the  particular  class. 
One  of  the  general  inspectors  in  collating  the  criticisms  of 
his  subordinates  and  in  commenting  thereon  expresses  gene- 
ral satisfaction  with  the  results  and  assembles  the  criticisms 
under  three  heads:1  (1)  the  lack  of  homogeneity  in  the 
classes ;  (2)  the  increased  strain  upon  the  teacher ;  and  (3)  the 
shortcomings  due  to  a  misapprehension  of  the  programs 
and  the  official  directions,  on  the  lack  of  emphasis  on  the 
grammatical  instruction,  as  well  as  a  neglect  of  the  culture 
aspect  in  the  higher  classes.  The  first  of  these,  being  due 
fundamentally  to  a  failure  to  treat  modern  language  instruc- 
tion as  seriously  as  that  in  most  of  the  other  subjects  of  the 
curriculum,  is  quite  apart  from  the  method  itself.  The 
remedies  suggested  by  the  inspector  —  to  set  rigorous  pro- 
motion examinations,  and  to  create  supplementary  classes 
for  the  weak  pupils  —  will  only  palliate  an  evil  primarily 

1  Rapport  d'un  inspecteur  ge'ne'ral.  Situation  de  I'enseignement  des  langues 
vivantes  dans  V  enscigncment  secondaire  en  1905-1906.  Revue  universitaire, 
1907,  II.,  pp.  93-109. 


MODERN  LANGUAGES  235 

due  to  other  causes.  However  valuable  auxiliary  aid  these 
devices  might  render,  the  permanent  cure  can  be  effected 
only  by  abolishing  the  modern  language  study  in  the  lower 
forms  or  else  instituting  it  at  least  optionally  in  the  corre- 
sponding classes  in  the  primary  schools.  The  other  two 
criticisms,  on  the  contrary,  are  intimately  associated  with  the 
method  itself.  The  nervous  strain  upon  the  teacher  must 
always  be  reckoned  with,  for  to  the  increased  effort  in 
speaking  in  a  foreign  tongue  must  be  added  the  further 
responsibility  for  helping  the  pupils  think  likewise  in  a 
strange  idiom  and  express  themselves  correctly.  This  is  all 
carried  on  practically  without  respite  for  the  whole  hour. 
From  my  own  observation,  the  teachers  that  apply  the 
method  most  consistently  are  the  most  exhausted  at  the 
end  of  the  hour.  The  weakness  upon  the  grammatical  side 
is  undoubtedly  due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  directions,  but 
where  the  test  comes  exclusively  upon  ability  to  speak  and 
write  correctly,  imperfections  here  become  more  readily  ap- 
parent. The  lack  of  literary  culture  in  the  higher  classes  is 
a  well  founded  and  serious  objection,  at  least  as  the  method 
is  applied  at  present,  and  one  that  cannot  be  entirely  or 
even  in  large  measure  attributed  to  misunderstanding  on  the 
part  of  the  teachers.  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  vital  char- 
acter of  the  criticism  will  result  in  a  more  liberal  application 
of  the  official  instructions  so  as  to  permit  a  greater  emphasis 
upon  reading  and  correspondingly  less  upon  conversation 
during  the  third  period.1  The  report  above  cited  signalizes 
a  disquieting  tendency  on  the  part  of  Spanish  and  Italian, 
particularly  the  former,  to  displace  the  English  and,  to  a 
less  extent,  the  German  in  some  of  the  southern  schools. 
The  reason  assigned  by  the  local  inspector  is  due  to  the 
"  application  of  the  law  of  the  minimum  of  effort.'*     The 

1  There  are  already  evidences  that,  although  the  official  regulations  have 
not  been  modified,  the  authorities  are  not  calling  for  a  strict  interpretation  of 
the  letter  of  the  law  quite  so  confidently  as  heretofore.  It  is  even  rumored  in 
more  than  one  quarter  that  the  general  inspectors  have  experienced  a  change 
of  heart  since  the  meeting  of  the  Association  of  Modern  Language  Teachers 
in  December,  1907. 


236  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

German,  required  by  so  many  of  the  higher  government 
schools,  is  not  likely  to  suffer  materially,  but  there  is  already 
serious  question  of  restricting  the  encroachment  of  these 
Eomance  languages,  perhaps  even  by  reducing  them  to  the 
role  of  the  second  language  studied,  and  so  confining  them 
to  the  second  cycle  of  the  course.  In  the  words  of  one  of 
the  academy  inspectors,  "  One  is  already  beginning  to  ask 
one's  self  if,  after  having  caused  this  Spanish  infiltration, 
measures  will  not  have  to  be  taken  to  'dike  it  out.'" 


ERRATUM 


(Omission  under  Philosophy  and  Mathematics  Forms, p.  £23.) 

GERMAN  AUTHORS  READ  IN  THE  PHILOSOPHY  AND 
MATHEMATICS   FORMS 

(Philosophy  A,  2  hours,  optional ;  Mathematics  A,  2  hours  ;  Philosophy  B 
and  Mathematics  B,  1  hour,  and  2  hours  additional,  distributed  accord- 
ing to  the  choice  of  the  pupils.) 

German.  Extracts  from  the  critics,  historians,  and  philosophers :  Lessing, 
Herder,  Winckelmann,  Humbold,  W.  and  F.  Schlegel,  L.  Borne,  W.  Scherer. 
—  Niebuhr,  L.  von  Ranke,  Fr.  von  Raumer,  Droysen,  Mommsen,  H.  von  Sybel, 
Gregorovius,  Janssen,  Treitschke.  —  Kant,  Schelling,  Fichte,  Hegel,  Schleier- 
macher,  D.  F.  Strauss,  Schopenhauer,  Nietzsche,  etc.  Selections  from  con- 
temporary poets :  Anzengruber,  K.  Busse,  Geibel,  Gilm,  Greif,  Hamerling, 
Henokell,  Hebbel,  G.  Hauptmann,  P.  Heyse,  Liliencron,  H.  Lingg,  K.  F. 
Meyer,  Th.  Storm,  Wildenbruch,  etc. 


CHAPTEE  XI 

HISTORY   AND  GEOGRAPHY 

However  important  a  part  history  plays  in  the  secondary 
school  program  to-day,  this  progress  has  in  large  measure 
been  a  development  of  the  last  hundred  years.       History 
The  amount   of  historical  knowledge   in   the      before  the 
possession  of  the  college  student  at  the  time     Re™lutlon- 
of  the  Eevolution  was  decidedly  limited.     "A  Frenchman 
of   a  century  ago  thought  himself   sufficiently  informed  if 
he  was  acquainted  with  the  annals  of  his  own  country,  with 
those  of  Judea,  of  Greece  and  of  Eome,  and  with  those  of 
the  different  European  people,  but  with  these  latter  only  so 
far  as  they  directly  concerned  us." l    Yet  if  one  confines  him- 
self to  inferences  from  the  printed  programs,  this  modest 
amount  is  certainly  not  an  overstatement  of  the  case.     Even 
this  was  too   often   mere  formal  memorizing   of  historical 
facts,  learned  in  strict  catechetical  form.2 

The  Ratio  studiorum  contains  no  mention  of  history  as 
a  regular  subject  of  instruction.     Aside   from   the   passing 
attention  it  may  have  received  in   discussing    The  clerical 
the  subject  matter  of  the   historians,   it  was      Teaching 
evidently  treated  with  but  slight  consideration, 
for  it  was  accorded  a  place  only  on  holidays.3     The  absolute 

1  Frary,  La  question  du  latin,  p.  230. 

2  See  Le  Ragois  (Pricepteur  de  Monseigneur  le  Due  du  Maine),  Instruction 
sur  Vhistoire  de,  France  ct  romaine,  Paris,  nouvelle  Edition,  1777.  This  text- 
book written  by  Le  Ragois,  preceptor  of  the  Due  du  Maine,  son  of  Louis  XIV., 
first  appeared  in  1684.  It  certainly  enjoyed  more  than  passing  popularity  for 
it  went  through  numerous  editions  and  save  for  additions  demanded  by  the 
progress  of  the  years  appeared  substantially  in  its  original  form  as  late  as  1830. 

8  Ratio  studiorum  in  Greard,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  285. 


238  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

neglect  of  all  modern  ^history  was  due  to  no  oversight  on 
the  part  of  the  Jesuit  fathers,  but  rather  to  a  desire  to  elimi- 
nate from  the  program  all  subjects  that  might  give  rise 
to  controversial  discussions  likely  to  disturb  the  tranquillity 
of  the  absolute  control,  intellectual  as  well  as  physical, 
exercised  by  the  superiors.  Their  more  liberal  minded 
rivals,  the  Oratorians,  however,  assigned  it  a  place  more  in 
keeping  with  its  importance.  From  the  very  first,  these 
latter  schools  seem  to  have  had  a  special  teacher  of  history 
and  to  have  encouraged  the  study  of  modern  as  well  as 
of  ancient  history.  In  fact  the  national  history  occupied 
three  of  the  best  years  of  the  course,  and,  what  is  more 
noteworthy  still,  the  instruction  was  given  in  the  vernacular. 
Even  as  early  as  this,  geography  was  a  companion  study  to 
history.  At  Juilly,  probably  the  most  famous  of  the  schools 
of  the  Oratorians,  the  first  two  years  were  devoted  to  sacred 
history,  the  next  three  to  the  study  of  Greece  and  Eome, 
and  the  last  year  to  that  of  France.1  Unsatisfactory  though 
this  course  may  be  with  its  unnatural  emphasis  upon  Greece 
and  Eome,  it  marks  a  point  considerably  in  advance  of  that 
actually  reached  by  the  university  colleges  nearly  a  century 
and  a  half  later.  History  occupied  a  yet  larger  place  in 
Arnauld's  study  plan  for  the  Port-Eoyal  schools,2  being 
found  in  every  class,  both  morning  and  afternoon,  from  the 
sixth  to  the  rhetoric  inclusive.  The  geography  which 
accompanied  it  appeared  only  in  the  fifth,  fourth,  and  third 
forms.  Pierre  Coustel,  sometime  a  teacher  at  Port-Eoyal, 
and  consequently  reflecting  something  of  the  spirit  of  the 
education  there,  in  enumerating  geography  among  a  group 
of  sciences  of  which  one  must  have  at  least  a  smattering, 
maintains  that  it  is  not  only  pleasant  and  useful,  but  "  it  is 
also  absolutely  necessary  for  all  who  aspire  to  sound 
learning,"3  useful  alike  for  the  merchant  and  the  soldier, 

1  Adry,  quoted  in  Hamel,  Histoire  de  Vabbaye  et  du  colUge  de  Juilly, 
p.  221. 

2  Greard,  op.  cit.,  II.,  pp.  286-287. 

8  Coustel,  Les  regies  de  I Education  des  enfants,  1687,  II.,  p.  214. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  239 

and  indispensable  for  intelligent  reading  of  sacred  or  secular 
literature.  History  to  him  meant  something  more  than 
biblical  and  ancient  history.  France,  Italy,  and  Spain  were 
important  enough  to  be  given  a  place,  and  to  these  were  to 
be  added,  if  time  permitted,  Hungary,  the  Turks,  Poland, 
Sweden,  and  Denmark.  Furthermore  he  distinguished 
between  reading  an  historian  to  ascertain  what  he  said,  and 
reading  him  in  order  to  discover  the  real  truth.  In  the 
latter  case  a  critical  and  comparative  study  was  mandatory.1 
With  Eollin  a  narrower  humanistic  influence  prevailed, 
for  he  presents  the  curious  anomaly  of  deliberately  neglect- 
ing the  very  history  whose  value  he  admits. 
In  offering  the  lack  of  time  as  his  sole  excuse  ^Hand*1 
for  this  omission  he  urges  the  necessity  of 
inspiring  in  young  men  such  a  taste  for  the  history  of  their 
own  country  that  they  shall  be  impelled  to  study  it  later 
when  they  will  have  more  leisure.2  Surely  a  most  specious 
and  dangerous  line  of  reasoning  to  set  before  young  people, 
for  how  many  of  the  lists  of  books  collected  with  such 
infinite  pains  are  ever  even  looked  at  again!  More  than 
half  a  century  later  Eolland  criticised  most  bitterly  the  plan 
that  had  long  prevailed  in  the  university  colleges  by  which 
the  pupils  had  history  of  the  Old  Testament  in  the  sixth 
form,  mythology  in  the  fifth,  Eoman  history  in  the  fourth, 
Greek  history  and  geography  in  the  third  form,  Bossuet's 
Discourse  on  Universal  History,  the  revolution  in  Portugal, 
the  Venetian  confederacy,  Montesquieu's  Grandeur  of  the 
Eomans,  and  a  brief  history  of  France  in  the  second  form.3 
In  demanding  the  reform  of  what  he  called  an  "  abuse  "  he 
was  merely  voicing  an  opinion  that  was  already  becoming 
rife.  Eolland  himself  went  a  step  further  and  wanted  to 
see  local  history  introduced  into  each  college,  wherein  the 
young  men  should  be  taught  the  memorable  actions  of  the 
citizens  of  their   own  province  with  the   hope   that  these 

1  Coustel,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  237. 

2  Kollin,  Traiti,  des  etiides,  ed.  1881,  II.,  p.  164. 
8  Holland,  Plan  d'&diwation,  note,  pp.  103-104. 


240  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

might  serve  as  an  inspiration  to  them  to  emulate  the  deeds 
of  their  ancestors.  The  course  of  history  suggested  by 
Eolland,  extending  from  the  sixth  through  the  rhetoric  (or 
first)  form,  is  thus  more  comprehensive  than  any  we  have 
heretofore  encountered,  surpassing  in  extent  and  variety 
even  that  followed  in  the  schools  at  Port-Koyal. 

Almost  without  exception,  history  is  recognized  in  the 
numerous  projects  for  reorganizing  the  system  of  public  in- 
struction that  came  up  for  discussion  before  the 

durinJ  the     various  bodies  of  the  revolutionary  period.    The 

Nineteenth  so-called  decree  of  Komme,  October  20, 1793,1 
contained  an  elaborate  classification  of  history, 
dividing  it  into  naval,  political,  industrial,  and  commercial, 
and  emphasized  its  importance  "  for  perfecting  our  industry 
and  resources."  History  likewise  appears  on  the  program 
of  the  Central  Schools,  but  seems  strangely  to  have  been 
slighted  in  the  course  of  the  military  section  of  the  Prytanee 
in  1801.  Geography,  which  had  formed  a  kind  of  unnamed 
subject  of  instruction  for  generations  and  latterly  had  served 
as  a  handmaid  to  history,  finds  a  distinct  place  for  itself  in 
the  original  program  of  1802.2  For  the  time  being  it  over- 
shadowed the  history,  for  it  was  taught  in  four  of  the  eight 
classes  as  against  three  for  the  latter  subject.  The  second 
lycee  program  seven  years  later  deprived  the  geography  of 
its  temporary  advantage,  relegating  it  to  the  subordinate  place 
it  has  continued  to  occupy  ever  since  that  time. 

In  the  years  immediately  following  the  restoration  of  the 
monarchy  there  seems  to  have  been  a  sudden  awakening  in 
historical  thought,  at  least  as  far  as  the  schools  were  con- 
cerned, which  corresponds  very  closely  to  a  similar  move- 
ment in  our  American  colleges.  The  program  of  1814,3 
in  lengthening  the  morning  and  afternoon  classes,  from  the 
first  of  April  until  the  end  of  the  school  year,  from  two  hours 
to  two  hours  and  a  half,  prescribed  that  the  half  hour  so  gained 

1  Gr^ard,  op.  cit.,  annexes,  II,  p.  240. 

2  Ibid.,  pp.  246-247. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  248-249. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  241 

should  be  exclusively  devoted  to  geography  and  history.  Four 
years  later  two  arrttes  were  passed,  one  in  the  spring  and 
the  other  in  the  fall,  entirely  reorganizing  the  history  course. 
The  sacred  history  and  the  geography  in  the  sixth  form  re- 
mained undisturbed,  and  continued  to  be  taught  by  the  regu- 
lar class  teacher  as  before.  From  the  fifth  form  upward, 
however,  the  work  was  put  in  charge  of  a  specialist  (a  change 
that  figures  again  in  the  reform  of  1902  after  many  years  of 
a  different  regime).  In  the  fifth  form,  the  program  called 
for  great  epochs  of  ancient  history,  in  the  fourth,  for  Eoman 
history  up  to  the  Battle  of  Actium,  in  the  third,  for  the 
period  from  Augustus  to  Charlemagne,  in  the  second,  for 
from  Charlemagne  to  modern  times,  and  in  the  rhetoric  form, 
for  history  of  France.  Throughout  the  course,  history  had  two 
lessons  of  an  hour  each  per  week,  but  it  was  compelled  to 
share  this  time  with  geography.  The  second  regulation  of 
that  same  year  introduced  general  history  in  the  second 
form,  thus  entailing  a  slight  modification  in  the  work  of  the 
earlier  years.  In  1826,  the  ancient  history  introduced  into 
the  sixth  form  included,  in  addition  to  sacred  history,  the 
history  of  Egypt,  Assyria,  Persia,  and  Greece.  Geography 
had  in  the  meantime  been  carried  down  as  low  as  the  eighth 
form.  With  the  extension  of  sacred  history  to  the  eighth 
form  four  years  later,  we  find  history  and  geography  practi- 
cally covering  the  entire  secondary  course,  a  state  of  affairs 
that  has  continued,  though  not  without  frequent  and  in  some 
cases  radical  modifications,  until  this  very  day.  There  have 
been  various  attempts  to  correlate  these  two  subjects  of  in-  i 
struction,  notably  in  the  plan  presented  by  Villemain  in  1843, 
and  again  in  the  reform  under  Minister  Duruy  a  little  more 
than  twenty  years  later.  In  the  main,  however,  each  subject 
has  been  developed  independently  of  the  other,  both  follow- 
ing the  lines  of  the  logical  order  of  instruction,  the  chief 
bond  between  them  being  that  they  were  taught  by  the 
same  teacher.  By  1874,  the  amount  of  time  devoted  to 
history  and  geography,  which  had  been  increasing  slowly 
and  haltingly,  reached  three  hours  per  week  for  each  class 

16 


242  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

from  the  very  beginning  up  through  the  philosophy  form. 
The  new  program  has  increased  this  time  allotment  some- 
what in  several  of  the  sections  of  the  second  cycle,  but  the 
most  significant  changes  appear  in  the  fundamental  reorgan- 
ization of  the  subject  matter. 

The  old  program  had  been  formulated  on  the  assump- 
tion that  once  the  secondary  school  laid  hold  of  a  boy,  he 
was  a  fixture  there  until  the  end  of  the  course.  The  course 
of  study  apparently  took  no  cognizance  of  the  possibility  that 
he  might  leave  before  completing  the  work,  and  it  certainly 
offered  no  encouragement  to  anybody  to  come  in  from  the 
outside  after  the  course  was  once  begun.  The  whole  scheme 
was  logically  planned  in  such  a  fashion  that  it  could  be  cut 
at  neither  end  without  serious  and  perhaps  fatal  detriment  to 
the  pupil,  at  least  as  far  as  carrying  away  any  well  rounded 
notions  of  the  unity  of  historical  progress  was  concerned. 
The  new  program  has  succeeded  in  obviating  these  two 
fundamental  defects  by  a  single  device  which  is  none  other 
than  the  concentric  circle  plan  already  pursued  for  some  time 
in  the  primary  school  course. 

Under  the  program  of  1890,  the  history  of  the  sixth 
form  began  with  Egypt,  and  thence  covered  the  rest  of  the 
ancient  world  down  to  the  beginning  of  Greek 
Ctte0CourL.0f  nist0I7-  Greece  furnished  the  subject  matter  of 
the  fifth  form,  Kome  of  the  fourth,  and  France 
and  Europe,  down  to  1789,  were  distributed  chronologically 
over  the  work  of  the  third,  second,  and  rhetoric  forms.  In 
the  philosophy  form,  France  was  treated  at  length  from  1789 
to  1889,  together  with  some  slight  attention  to  the  rest  of 
Europe,  England,  and  the  United  States.  Under  the  new 
program  the  work  of  each  of  the  two  cycles  is  as  nearly 
as  possible  complete  in  itself.  Thus  the  boy  that  leaves  the 
lyc£e  at  the  completion  of  the  third  form,  has  covered  all  the 
history  of  the  world  from  ancient  Egypt  down  to  his  own 
day.  Not  only  has  he  gained  some  notions  of  the  people 
that  lived  before  the  Christian  era,  but  furthermore  in  his 
last  and  for  him  most  important  year,  he  has  come  to  know 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  243 

that  Italy,  Germany,  Austria,  England,  the  Balkan  States, 
and  the  United  States,  to  say  nothing  of  the  nations  of  the 
Orient,  each  has  a  past,  and  each  is  making  history  as  well  as 
his  own  native  land,  a  fact  that  many  of  our  American  high 
school  pupils  are  likely  to  ignore.  The  course  in  geography 
has  been  made  similarly  comprehensive. 

For  the  boy  who  passes  through  all  the  classes  from  the 
preparatory  form  up  through  the  philosophy,  this  arrange- 
ment works  no  detriment.  To  be  sure  he  goes  over  the 
history  of  France  three  separate  times,  but  each  time  it  is 
presented  from  a  different  point  of  view,  and  one  correspond- 
ing to  his  superior  intellectual  development,  a  method  which 
merely  duplicates  the  child's  normal  way  of  getting  in  touch 
with  the  world  about  him. 

The  new  program  limits  the  biographical  stories  of  the 
preparatory  class  to  the  heroes  of  the  national  history,  and 
also  bridges  over  the  gap  that  formerly  existed  in  the  work 
of  the  seventh  form  by  carrying  the  work  down  from  1805 
to  1871.  In  the  second  cycle,  the  modern  history  which  is 
common  to  all  four  sections  begins  with  the  tenth  century 
and  is  carried  down  to  the  present.  The  C  and  D  section 
pupils  thus  cover  the  earlier  history  only  once,  but  the  A 
and  B  sections  review  the  history  of  Greece,  Eome,  and  the 
other  ancient  nations,  in  a  special  two-hour  course  extend- 
ing over  the  second  and  first  forms.  The  work  of  the 
philosophy-mathematics  form  is  in  some  respects  the  richest 
of  the  whole  course.  It  is  closely  connected  with  geography 
throughout  and  practically  gives  a  survey  of  all  modern  his- 
tory from  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  in  France  after 
the  fall  of  Napoleon  down  to  the  events  of  yesterday.  The 
extent  of  the  field  covered  necessarily  makes  the  work  more 
or  less  encyclopaedic  in  its  character,  but  it  offers  a  magnifi- 
cent opportunity  to  show  the  enormous  development  that 
has  taken  place  during  the  nineteenth  century  and  the  inter- 
relation and  interdependence  existing  among  the  various 
peoples  of  the  world. 

In  the  beginning  class  as  well  as  in  the  two  years  of  the 


244  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

preparatory  division,  the  history  is  almost  exclusively  anec- 
dotal and  biographical,  drawing  its  subject  matter  indiffer- 
ently from  the  domains  of  true  and  legendary 

ourse  in      history.     One  might  rather  call  it  a  story  tell- 
Lower  Grades.  J  °  J 

rng  class  in  which  the  children  have  to  recount 

to  the  teacher  the  narrations  he  has  told  them.  The  geogra- 
phy during  these  same  three  years  is  treated  in  a  less  happy 
fashion,  for  its  formal  side  is  constantly  emphasized.  In  the 
third  year  the  child  is  lost  in  a  maze  of  geographical  terms, 
mountains,  rivers,  seas,  gulfs,  isthmuses,  straits,  cliffs,  denned 
in  most  abstract  fashion,  and  only  shown  to  the  eye  on  a 
wall  chart  picturing  these  and  many  more,  all  huddled  to- 
gether in  most  unnatural  and  appalling  confusion.  The 
ordinary  teacher  in  the  lower  grades  shows  himself  strangely 
unable  to  take  advantage  of  the  countless  concrete  situations 
of  the  life  lying  outside  his  very  door  in  order  to  vitalize 
this  elementary  geography  teaching.  Home  geography  in  the 
best  sense  of  the  word  finds  no  place  in  this  program. 

The  more  formal  study  of  history  and  geography  begins  in 
the  eighth  form,  the  first  class  of  the  elementary  division : 1 


EIGHTH  FORM 
History  and  Geography,  3  Hours  a  Week 

History.  Summary  notions  of  the  history  of  France,  emphasizing  the 
essential  facts,  from  the  beginning  down  to  1610.  Brief  summaries  dic- 
tated by  the  teacher  and  recited  by  the  pupil.  Short  examinations, 
simple  narratives  repeated  orally  by  the  pupil. 

Geography.  Elementary  notions  of  general  geography.  The  ocean. 
Hot  and  cold  countries.  Elementary  descriptions  of  the  five  grand 
divisions.  Form  and  extent  of  the  continents.  Principal  countries 
with  their  capitals.  Simple  map  drawing  at  the  board  and  in  the 
note  books. 

1  Lack  of  space  prevents  giving  the  official  programs  in  full.  For  the 
eighth  and  seventh  forms,  only  the  general  subject  of  the  year's  work  is 
indicated.     Beginning  with  the  sixth  form,  the  topical  headings  are  given. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  245 

SEVENTH  FORM 
History  and  Geography,  3  Hours 

History.  Summary  history  of  France  in  the  modern  and  contem- 
porary period  from  1610  to  1871.  Brief  summaries  dictated.  Simple 
narratives.  Short  explanations.  [With  very  few  exceptions,  the  sub- 
jects indicated  on  the  detailed  program  are  confined  to  the  arts  of  war, 
campaigns,  and  the  rise  and  fall  of  empire.] 

Geography.  Elementary  geography  of  France  and  her  colonies. 
Physical  geography  of  France.  Old  provinces  and  departments.  Cities. 
City,  department,  and  region  where  pupil  lives.  Means  of  communi- 
cation.   Colonies.    Free-hand  map  drawing. 

The   work   thus    far   constitutes   the    first   stage   of    the 
course.     It  covers   substantially   the   same  ground  as   that 
in  the  public  primary   schools,  although  it  is 
not   handled   in  quite   the   same  fashion.     If     ^dtgft*!jg 
by  any  chance,  a  boy  were  compelled  to  stop 
his   schooling  at  this   point,   he   would   carry   away   with 
him   a  fairly  good  notion  of  the  world  in  general  and   of 
France    in    particular,   and    he    would   have    become    ac- 
quainted  with   the  principal   facts   of  the   history   of   his 
own   country   down   to   the    close   of   the   Franco-Prussian 
war.     With  this  general  background  the  sixth  form  pupil 
is  ready  to   undertake   the   further   study   of   history   and 
geography  in  accordance  with'  the  more  logically  developed 
programs  of  the  secondary  course  proper. 

SIXTH  FORM 

History  and  Geography,  3  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

History.  I.  Ancient.  Egypt,  Chaldea,  and  Assyria.  Jews,  Phoe- 
nicians, Persians. 

II.  Greece.    Troy  to  Alexander's  conquest  of  Asia. 

III.  Italy.    Etruscans  to  Csesar's  conquest  of  Gaul. 

IV.  Augustus  to  Theodosius. 

Geography.     I.  General   geography.     The   globe;    relief;    ocean; 
atmosphere;   rain;   climate;   coasts;   animal  and  vegetable  life;   man. 
II.  Polar  regions.    America :  physical,  political,  and  economic  geog- 


246  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

raphy  (Canada,  United  States,  Mexico,  Brazil,  Chile,  Argentine  Repub-s 
lie).  Australasia:  Australia,  New  Zealand,  principal  archipelagoes  of 
the  Pacific  (Oceanica  is  taken  up  in  conjunction  with  Asia). 


FIFTH  FORM 

History  and  Geography,  3  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

History.    The  Middle  Ages  and  the  beginning  of  modern  history. 

I.  Gaul,  ancient  and  Roman.  The  invasions.  Franks.  Arabs. 
Frankish  empire.    France.    England.    Germany. 

II.  The  church  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Crusades.  Society.  Western 
civilization. 

III.  The  Valois  and  the  Hundred  Years'  War.  France  in  the  four- 
teenth and  fifteenth  centuries.  Europe  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth 
century. 

Geography.  Asia  and  Oceanica.  Africa.  Physical,  political,  and 
economic  geography.    Relations  with  Europe  and  America. 


FOURTH  FORM 

History  and  Geography,  3  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

History.    Modern  times. 

I.  Maritime  discoveries  and  establishment  of  colonies.  Renaissance. 
Western  Europe  at  the  end  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Struggle  between 
France  and  Austria.  Reformation.  Religious  wars.  Characters  and 
results  of  the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

II.  Establishment  of  the  absolute  monarchy  in  France.  Louis  XIV. 
Society  of  the  seventeenth  century.  French  art,  seventeenth  century. 
England,  seventeenth  century. 

III.  France  under  Louis  XV.  England  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Prussia.  Austria.  Russian  Empire.  Foreign  politics  in  the  eighteenth 
century.    France  before  the  Revolution.    Louis  XVI. 

Geography.  Europe.  Physical,  political,  and  economic  geography ; 
area  and  population  of  the  principal  countries.  Means  of  international 
communication. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  247 

THIRD   FORM 

History  and  Geography,  3  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Divisions  A  and  B) 

History.    Contemporary  history. 

I.  The  old  regime  in  France.  States  General  and  Constitutional 
Assembly.  Republic.  Transformation  of  French  society.  Struggle 
against  Europe.  Consulate.  Empire.  Napoleon's  foreign  policy. 
Congress  of  Vienna. 

II.  Restoration.  Louis  Philippe.  Arts,  letters,  and  sciences  in 
France  in  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

III.  Second  Republic.  Second  Empire.  Unification  of  Italy.  Unifi- 
cation of  Germany.    The  Eastern  question  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

IV.  Commercial  and  industrial  progress.  European  expansion. 
The  Orient. 

V.  England.  German  Empire.  Austro-Hungary.  Russia.  United 
States  in  the  nineteenth  century.    France  from  1870  to  1889. 

VI.  Government  of  France  in  the  nineteenth  century. 

Geography.  France  and  her  colonies.  Physical,  political,  and 
economic  geography. 

At  the  end  of  the  first  cycle  the  pupil  finds  himself  back 
very  nearly  at  the  same  point  he  left  four  years  before.  In 
re-covering  the  same  circuit,  he  has  gone  further  ~, 
afield,  he  has  thrown  aside  the  restrictions  of  istics  of  the 
the  former  "  drum  and  trumpet  "  history,  he  First  cycle- 
has  traversed  a  domain  where  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  em- 
pires and  dynasties,  no  longer  constitute  the  only  salient 
features  of  historical  development.  He  has  gone  back  to 
the  beginning  of  known  history,  and  has  followed  the  evolu- 
tion of  human  progress  from  ancient  Egypt  down  to  the 
nations  of  the  present  day.  Not  one  of  the  great  contempo- 
rary powers  has  been  neglected;  his  interests  have  been 
centered,  if  only  briefly,  upon  China  and  Japan  in  their 
relation  to  the  development  of  the  far  East;  and  the  last 
general  topic,  with  its  treatment  of  the  central  government, 
universal  suffrage,  the  press,  the  democracy,  popular  instruc- 
tion, obligatory  military  service,  and  labor  legislation  since 
1848,  has  put  him  in  close  touch  with  recent  developments 
and  with  some  of  the  future  problems  of  his  own  political  life. 


248  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

From  the  sixth  form  up  the  history  and  geography  in  each 

class  are  confided  to  a  special  teacher,  whereas  in  the  lower 

forms  these  as  well  as  the  other  ordinary  sub- 

Mffistodi^.in  3ecfcs  are  a11  handled  by  the  class  teacher. 
There  is  consequently  a  marked  difference  in 
the  method  of  treatment  that  is  even  more  noticeable  than 
one  is  likely  to  encounter  in  passing  from  our  grammar  to 
our  high  schools.  In  the  elementary  division  the  teacher 
has  followed  a  narrative  method,  telling  the  story  to  the 
pupils,  and  at  the  end  of  the  hour  dictating  a  summary  of 
the  essential  points  he  has  covered.  The  note  book  that 
contains  these  summaries  thus  constitutes  the  history  text- 
book. From  the  sixth  form  upward  it  is  almost  exclusively 
a  lecture  method.  The  first  twenty  or  thirty  minutes  of  the 
hour  are  usually  devoted  to  questions  on  the  new  work  of 
the  previous  day.  Few  pupils  are  called  upon,  but  each  one 
is  put  through  a  searching  interrogatory.  These  questions, 
however,  are  purely  fact  questions,  never,  so  far  as  my  ex- 
perience goes,  calling  for  any  independent  reflection  on  the 
part  of  the  pupil.  The  last  part  of  the  hour  is  devoted  to  a 
purely  formal  lecture  on  the  advance  work.  The  boys  take 
this  down  in  their  note  books,  and  it  serves  as  the  basis  of 
the  question  period  the  next  time.  These  note  books  are  on 
the  whole  remarkably  neat  and  well  kept.  Occasionally 
one  finds  them  embellished  with  picture  postal  cards  repre- 
senting historical  buildings,  fche  military  and  social  dress  of 
the  period  in  question,  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  maps  and 
sketches  put  on  the  board  by  the  teacher.  There  is  appar- 
ently no  uniform  practice  as  regards  the  use  of  text-books. 
Some  classes  have  them,  and  some  do  not,  but  on  the  whole 
their  use  seems  to  be  spreading,  especially  in  the  lower 
classes.  The  older  teachers  who  have  long  depended  upon 
the  out  and  out  lecture  method  are  naturally  slow  to  adopt 
a  class  text-book.  The  presence  or  absence  of  these,  how- 
ever, has  no  very  appreciable  effect  on  the  method.  A 
teacher  belonging  to  the  former  group  used  the  book  merely 
as  a  point  of  departure.     In  the  presentation  of  the  partic- 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  249 

ular  lesson  that  I  heard  he  covered  sixteen  pages  of  the 
text-book  in  his  lecture,  emphasizing  the  important  points, 
and  at  the  same  time  speaking  slowly  and  deliberately 
enough  for  the  class  to  take  down  almost  every  word  he 
uttered.  A  teacher  of  the  other  group,  in  response  to  my 
question  as  to  what  would  be  the  result  of  putting  texts  into 
the  hands  of  his  pupils,  replied :  "  They  would  not  do 
the  work  assigned.  If  they  did  they  would  fail  to  get  the 
proper  perspective,  and  would  be  likely  to  emphasize  the 
less  important  events.  Even  a  lazy  fellow  will  carry  away 
something  from  the  oral  presentation  of  the  teacher."  This 
lecture  method  assuredly  puts  the  pupils  in  possession  of 
the  facts,  but  it  is  of  little  value  in  developing  in  them  any 
ability  to  select  the  wheat  from  the  chaff  for  themselves, 
to  cultivate  that  discriminative  judgment  so  essential  for 
serious  historical  work. 

The  general  method  in  geography  is  substantially  the 
same  as  that  pursued  in  history,  as  is  perhaps  to  be  expected 
from  the  fact  that  both  subjects  are  taught  by 
the  same  teacher.  On  one  or  two  occasions  I 
also  found  the  picture  postal  cards  very  intelligently  applied 
to  the  teaching  of  geography.  One  enthusiastic  teacher 
whose  boys  happened  to  be  studying  Switzerland  and  the 
Alps  country  had  a  fine  collection  of  cards  illustrating  the 
geographical  features  of  that  region  hanging  on  the  wall  at 
the  front  of  the  class.  Much  of  the  geography  teaching  in 
the  lower  forms,  however,  was  decidedly  dry  and  formal. 

The  program  for  the  history  and  geography  in  the  first 
cycle  is  as  follows: 

SECOND  FORM 

Modern  History,  2  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  C,  and  D) 

I.  Europe  from  the  tenth  to  the  fifteenth  century.     Rise  of  the 
nations.    Society.    The  church.    Civilization. 

II.  France  from  1499  to  1559.    European  politics.    Maritime  discov- 
eries and  establishment  of  colonies.     Renaissance.     Religious  crisis  of 


250  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  sixteenth  century.    General  politics  of  Philip  II.     England  under 
Elizabeth.    Civil  wars  in  France,  1559-1610. 

III.  Establishment  of  the  absolute  monarchy  in  France.  European 
politics,  1610-1660.  The  United  Provinces  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
England,  1603-1660. 

IV.  England,  1660-1714.  Louis  XIV.,  absolute  monarch.  Foreign 
politics  of  Louis  XIV.  French  society  in  the  seventeenth  century. 
Eastern  Europe  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Intellectual  movement  in 
Europe  in  the  seventeenth  century. 

Ancient  History,  2  Hours 
(Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B) 

I.  Prehistoric  times.  Egypt.  Chaldea.  The  Jews.  Phoenicia.  The 
Persians. 

II.  Greece.  Early  times.  Myths.  Sparta.  The  tyrants.  Athens. 
Greek  colonization.  Civilization  up  to  the  fifth  century.  Persian  wars. 
Formation  of  the  Athenian  Empire.  Athenian  democracy.  Pelopon- 
nesian  war.  Spartan  supremacy.  Theban  supremacy.  Macedonian 
supremacy.    Extension  of  Greek  influence.    Final  struggles  in  Greece. 

Geography,  1  Hour 
(Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  C,  and  D) 

I.  Discovery  of  the  world.     Geographical  science. 

II.  The  world  in  the  universe.  The  terrestrial  globe  in  its  present 
state.  The  solid  element.  The  liquid  element.  The  gaseous  element. 
Streams.  Coasts.  Minerals.  Flora  and  fauna.  Modifications  of  the 
earth's  surface. 

III.  Man.    Present  population  of  the  earth.    Man  and  nature. 

IV.  Principal  features  of  economic  geography  of  the  globe.  Food 
products.  Textiles.  Fuel.  Precious  and  useful  minerals.  Present 
economic  world. 

FIRST   FORM 

Modern  History,  2  Hours 

(Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  C,  and  D) 

I.  France  under  Louis  XV.  England  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Russian  Empire  in  the  eighteenth  century.  Prussia  in  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries.  Austria  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Continental  politics,  1715-1763.  Colonial  politics.  Rise  of  English 
colonies.  The  Eastern  question  up  to  1795.  General  characteristics  of 
the  eighteenth  century. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  251 

II.  Louis  XVI.  France  in  1789.  Monarchical  period  of  the  Revo- 
lution. Republic.  Struggle  against  Europe,  1792-1802.  Consular  and 
imperial  government.    Foreign  politics  of  Napoleon.    End  of  the  Empire. 

Ancient  History,  2  Hours 
(Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B) 

I.  Description  of  Italy.    Primitive  Rome.    Religion.    Roman  army. 

II.  Conquest  of  the  Mediterranean  basin.  Consequences.  Political 
life.  Provincial  administration.  Gracchi.  Marius  and  Sulla.  Pompey. 
Caesar.    End  of  the  Republic. 

III.  Augustus.  The  emperors.  Roman  Empire  in  the  third  century. 
Civilization  under  the  Empire.  Roman  law.  Christianity.  Constan- 
tine.    Last  days  of  the  Empire. 

IV.  The  barbarians.  Frankish  Gaul.  Eastern  church.  Re-estab- 
lishment of  the  Empire.  The  Arabs.  Byzantine  Empire  from  the  fifth 
to  the  tenth  century. 

Geography,  1  Hour 
(Program  common  to  Sections  A,  B,  C,  and  D) 

I.  Geological  constitution.     Beginnings  of  the  French  nation. 

II.  Study  of  France  by  great  natural  divisions. 

III.  Administrative  regime.     Economic  geography. 

IV.  The  colonies.    France  in  its  relation  to  the  world. 


PHILOSOPHY  AND   MATHEMATICS  FORMS 

History  and  Geography,  3  hours  during  one  semester  and  4  hours 
during  the  other,  one  of  the  hours  each  week  being  devoted  to 
geography. 

(Program  common  to  Philosophy  A  and  B,  and  Mathematics  A  and  B) 

History,  Contemporary.  I.  Restoration  in  Europe.  Constitu- 
tional monarchy  in  France.  England  up  to  1848.  Intellectual  move- 
ment in  Europe  during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

II.  Revolution  of  1848  and  the  reaction.  Second  Empire.  National 
wars.    Eastern  question. 

III.  Catholic  church.  France,  1870-89.  German  Empire.  Aus- 
tro-Hungary  since  1860.  England.  Spain.  Belgium.  Switzerland. 
Russia  in  the  nineteenth  century.  Intellectual  movement  during  the 
second  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

IV.  Commercial  and  industrial  progress.  European  powers  in 
Africa;  Asia;  America. 

V.  General  characteristics  of  contemporary  civilization :   respect  of 


252  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

person;    religious  liberty;    political  freedom;    democracy;    social  doc- 
trines and  labor  legislation. 

Geography.  Principal  powers  of  the  world :  British  Isles;  Holland 
and  Belgium;  Germany;  Switzerland;  Austro-Hungary ;  Italy;  Rus- 
sian Empire;  China  and  Japan;  United  States;  Argentine  Republic 
and  Brazil.     Principal  means  of  communication. 

Thus  for  the  third  time  the  pupil  completes  his  study  of 
history  and  geography.  The  necessarily  sketchy  national 
Characteristics  nistor7  of  tne  elementary  classes  has  been 
of  the  Three  elaborated  and  supplemented  by  the  successive 
Periods.  stages  of  the  two  cycles  of  the  secondary  course 
proper,  and  now  France  no  longer  stands  forth  as  an  isolated 
unity,  but  while  retaining  her  national  individuality,  she  ap- 
pears in  her  true  light  as  intimately  related  to  and  closely 
dependent  upon  the  other  countries  of  the  world.  Through- 
out the  whole  course,  at  least  of  modern  history,  France  has 
formed  the  point  of  departure,  the  background,  so  to  speak, 
against  which  the  developments  in  the  other  countries  have 
been  projected.  These  three  stages  are  not  simple  reviews, 
though  the  warp  and  woof  of  the  facts  are  necessarily  the 
same,  but  each  looks  at  the  question  from  a  different  point 
of  view  from  the  preceding.  One  might  characterize  the 
dominant  note  of  the  history  of  the  elementary  period  as 
biographical,  gradually  dissolving  to  military  or  dynastic; 
that  of  the  first  cycle  as  political ;  that  of  the  second  as  social 
and  economic.  The  following  quotations  from  the  official 
program  will  show  the  different  method  of  treatment  in  the 
last  two  periods: 

THIRD   FORM  FIRST  FORM 

The  states  general  and  the  consti-  The  monarchical  period  of  the 
tutional  assembly.  The  constitu-  Revolution.  The  states  gen- 
tion  of  1791.  eral    and    the    constitutional 

assembly.  Abolition  of  the 
old  regime.  Transformation 
of  French  society  by  the  Rev- 
olution. The  constitution  of 
1791.  The  legislative  assem- 
bly; resistance  of  the  king; 
formation  of  the  republican 
party;  fall  of  the  monarchy. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  253 

THIRD  FORM  PHILOSOPHY   FORM 

The  Eastern  question  in  the  nine-    The  Eastern  question.      Disor- 
teenth  century.  ganization    and    dismember- 

ment of  the  Ottoman  Empire ; 
formation  of  the  Christian 
Balkan  States.  Crimean  war. 
Balkan  war.  Congress  of 
Berlin.  The  Balkan  States 
since  1878;  Austria  a  Balkan 
power. 

It  is  instructive  to  note  that  every  boy  in  the  French 
secondary  school  proper  has  a  comprehensive  course  in 
history  from  the  very  earliest  times  down  to 
the  present  day,  with  the  period  from  the  tenth  t^eCQ^?sfe 
century  covered  twice.  In  addition  to  this,  the 
Latin-Greek  and  the  Latin-modern  language  pupils  have  a 
year  of  Greek  and  a  year  of  Roman  history  during  the  sec- 
ond cycle.  In  the  so-called  graduate  classes  where  the  boys 
are  preparing  for  the  higher  government  schools  those  parts 
of  the  general  field  that  are  demanded  by  .the  entrance 
examination  programs  are  still  further  reviewed,  but  in  most 
of  these  classes  inasmuch  as  the  examinations  make  little  or 
no  call  on  their  candidates  for  independent  interpretation, 
the  work  is  treated  from  a  narrower  point  of  view.  One 
prominent  and  successful  history  teacher  in  Paris  frankly 
told  me  that  the  method  in  the  classes  he  was  preparing  for 
the  military  school  at  Saint-Cyr  differed  widely  from  that 
followed  in  his  other  classes.  "  There  is  less  attempt  to 
develop  the  mind,"  he  added,  "  than  to  fill  it  with  information 
by  way  of  preparation  for  the  examinations." 

The  general  result  of  the  geography  program  is  much 
less  satisfactory  than  the  history.  Although  geography 
receives  a  trifle  less  than   one  half  the   time     n         . 

Geography 

assigned    to    history,    the    distribution    offers        and  its  * 
considerable    ground    for    criticism.     Of    the     Weakness. 
nine   years   devoted  to  the   subject  from  the   eighth   form 
through  the  philosophy,   France  receives  three   years,  gen- 
eral geography  nearly  that  amount,   commercial  geography 


254  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

one  year,  Europe  one  year,  and  Asia,  Oceanica,  and  Africa 
together,  one  year.  America,  Australasia,  and  the  polar 
regions  are  assigned  a  portion  of  the  sixth  form  work, 
which  is  chiefly  devoted  to  general  geography.  Even  where 
the  program  insists  upon  confining  the  political  and  eco- 
nomic geography  of  America  to  Canada,  the  United  States, 
Mexico,  Brazil,  Chile,  and  the  Argentine  Kepublic,  the  time 
devoted  to  the  United  States  cannot  be  very  extensive. 
The  United  States  figures  again  in  the  program  of  the  phil- 
osophy form  where  it  occupies  one  of  the  ten  paragraphs 
devoted  to  the  principal  powers  of  the  world.  There  is 
thus  good  basis  for  the  implied  question  in  a  recent  mag- 
azine article:  "Take  a  bachelor  of  to-morrow  and  ask  how 
much  that  young  citizen  at  the  end  of  his  studies  knows 
of  that  enormous  power,  so  menacing  for  Europe  of  the 
twentieth  century,  the  United  States  of  America. " 1  The 
author  pointedly  continues :  "  The  history  program  per- 
mits us  to  show  men  at  work  but  we  have  too  little  in- 
formation about  what  they  are  working  on."  There  is  no 
question  but  that  in  the  French  schools  geography  suffers 
from  its  association  with  history,2  for  the  method  of  the 

1  Dtjtil,  Sur  Venseignement  de  la  geographic,  in  Revue  universitaire,  1903,  I., 
p.  249.  Far  more  painful  and  serious  defects  appeared  in  the  examination  for 
the  agrfyation  in  1907.  See  Langlois,  Agrtgation  oVhistoire  et  geographic, 
concours  1907,  in  Revue  universitaire,  1907,  II.,  pp.  277-296.  The  geography 
question  in  the  written  examination  was :  "The  Mississippi."  M.  Langlois 
characterizes  the  answers  as  "mediocre  "  and  says  that  the  characteristics  of 
the  river  and  the  climate  of  the  valley  were  the  particular  stumbling  blocks. 
"  A  good  half  of  the  candidates  did  not  know  that  the  maximum  rainfall  oc- 
curred during  the  summer.  Some  thought  that  the  Pacific  was  the  source  of 
the  moisture,  and  one  declared  that  the  Rocky  Mountains  *n'  arretent  nullement 
les  eaux  des  vents  pluvieux  du  nord-ouest.'  "  Another  placed  the  source  of 
the  Mississippi  in  the  Great  Lakes,  and  explained  at  length  their  influence  in 
regulating  the  flow.  Such  ignorance  as  this  on  the  part  of  candidates  for  the 
teacher's  certificate  is  vital.  There  is  more  than  a  mere  question  of  fact  in- 
volved, for  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  the  source  of  the  greater  part  of  the  agri- 
cultural wealth  of  our  country.  What  accurate  conception  of  the  significance 
of  the  results  can  there  be  in  the  face  of  such  ignorance  of  the  fundamental 
conditions  ? 

2  Vidal  de  la  Blache,  La  conception  actuelle  de  Venseignement  de  la  geo- 
graphic, in  Conferences  du  Mus6e  pe'dagogique,  1905,  p.  118. 


HISTORY  AND  GEOGRAPHY  255 

latter  dominates  the  former.  History  is  essentially  a  sub- 
ject that  must  be  studied  at  arm's  length,  so  to  speak. 
We  can  seldom  come  into  personal  relations  with  the 
great  makers  of  history,  or  at  least  if  we  do,  our  ideas 
are  almost  inevitably  distorted  by  our  proximity.  In  his- 
tory, we  need  the  perspective  of  time  in  order  to  assure  sane, 
unbiassed  judgments.  Geography,  on  the  other  hand,  is 
best  studied  by  actual  contact  with  the  phenomena  in 
question.  Unfortunately,  the  conditions  of  school  life 
make  thorough  application  of  this  idea  unattainable,  but 
the  resourceful  teacher  can  find  many  opportunities  for 
illuminating  the  dry  pages  of  the  text  or  lecture.  There 
is  absolutely  no  value  in  a  child  learning  a  verbal  defini- 
tion of  a  spring  or  a  river  system,  unless  he  has  at  the 
same  time  some  clear  conception  of  the  natural  phenome- 
non he  is  defining.  Likewise  it  is  much  less  important 
for  him  to  be  able  to  rattle  off  the  names  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  the  Seine,  or  to  know  that  the  silt  carried  down 
by  the  Loire  amounts  to  375  cubic  meters  in  a  certain 
unit  of  time,  whereas  in  the  Seine  it  is  only  300  cubic 
meters,  and  in  the  Ehine  1,450,  than  it  is  to  understand  the 
influence  of  these  tributaries  and  the  significance  of  this  silt 
as  affecting  the  character  of  these  streams  and  their  use- 
fulness. There  are  gratifying  evidences  among  the  younger 
teachers  of  a  tendency  to  depart  from  these  traditional 
formal  methods  that  many  of  the  older  men  cling  to  most 
tenaciously,  but  the  secondary  school  teachers  of  geography 
are  yet  considerably  behind  their  fellows  in  the  primary 
system  in  employing  any  such  simple  device  as  the  stere- 
opticon  for  vitalizing  their  formal  teaching.  Too  often 
they  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  each  of  the  two  subjects 
they  are  teaching  has  a  method  peculiarly  its  own,  and  they 
thereby  neglect  the  specific  admonition  of  the  official 
instructions  that  "they  should  devote  all  their  efforts 
not  only  to  the  teaching  of  the  geography,  but  also  to 
educating    through    the   geography. "  *     The    hopeful    sign 

1  Instructions  concernant  les programmes  de  I'enseignement  classique,  p.  cvi. 


256  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

about  this  whole  matter  is  that  many  teachers  are  chafing 
under  a  situation  that  is  already  becoming  intolerable. 
One  ingenious  writer 1  suggests  the  appointment  of  an 
assistant  master  or  probationer  in  every  school  who  should 
supplement  the  class  work  of  the  regular  history  and  ge- 
ography teacher  just  as  the  modern  language  assistants  do 
in  their  department.  This,  as  well  as  most  of  the  sug- 
gestions to  ameliorate  the  situation,  is  merely  a  makeshift. 
To  effect  a  permanent  cure,  either  the  program  must  be 
considerably  restricted  or  the  time  substantially  increased. 

1  Machat,  Laclasse  cTuneTieure  en  giographie,  in  Revue  universitaire,  1906, 
II.,  p.  100. 


CHAPTEK   XII 

MATHEMATICS  AND   SCIENCE 

Saturated  with  humanistic  ideas,  and  dominated  by  the 
spirit  of  classicism  as  it  was,  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  col- 
lege curriculum  before  the  ^Revolution  gave  Earl  g  . 
practically  no  place  to  instruction  in  mathe-  tific  Instruc- 
matics  and  the  sciences.  These  two  subjects  tlon- 
were  stretching  toward  each  other, — the  one  from  the  simple 
arithmetic  of  the  elementary  instruction,  and  the  other  from 
the  physics  of  the  philosophy  course  in  superior  instruction, 
until  the  connecting  link  as  represented  by  algebra  and  ge- 
ometry should  be  slipped  into  place  in  the  colleges.  Abbe' 
Fleury,  writing  in  1686,  complained  that  arithmetic  was 
begun  too  early,  and  recommended  that  it  should  be  post- 
poned until  the  "  reason  was  entirely  formed,  as  at  ten  or 
twelve  years  of  age." 2  In  the  Jesuit  schools,  since  the  great 
majority  of  the  pupils  left  at  the  end  of  the  rhetoric  form, 
there  was  comparatively  very  little  training  in  the  scientific 
disciplines,  the  latter  being  reserved  for  the  philosophy 
course.  This  extended  over  three  years:  the  first  devoted 
to  logic,  the  second  to  physics  and  mathematics,  and  the 
third  to  metaphysics.2  The  physics,  exclusively  the  physics 
of  Aristotle,  and  therefore  in  the  hands  of  the  professor  of 
philosophy,  made  up  the  major  part  of  the  second  year's 

1  Fleury,  TraiU  du  choix  et  de  la  m&hode  des  6tudes,  Paris,  1686,  p.  180. 
In  those  days  the  arithmetic  consisted  of  the  four  fundamental  rules,  the 
pupils  being  taught  "to  reckon  with  counters  and  with  the  pen,  ...  to 
handle  the  weights  and  measures  in  common  use.  .  .  .  Later  he  came  to  the 
more  difficult  rules,  .  .  .  and  finally,  if  time  and  ability  permitted,  he  was 
taught  the  science  of  proportions." 

2  Ratio  atque  institutio  studiorum  societatis  Jesu,  1603,  pp.  84-86. 

17 


258  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

work.  The  relatively  insignificant  amount  of  mathematics 
was  chiefly  Euclid,  eked  out  with  "  some  notions  of  geogra- 
phy and  of  the  sphere."1  Mathematics  and  science  were 
quite  beyond  the  reach  of  the  influences  tending  to  modify 
instruction  in  the  humanistic  branches  during  the  seven- 
teenth and  eighteenth  centuries,  and  the  Eevolution  found 
them  practically  as  the  Ratio  studiorum  had  left  them  nigh 
upon  two  hundred  years  before.  Physics  was  intimately 
associated  with  philosophy,  and  mathematics,  since  it  was 
looked  upon  as  essential  for  engineers  and  architects,  and  so 
of  use  for  only  a  small  number  of  those  preparing  for  profes- 
sional life,  was  excluded  from  the  ordinary  course  of  study 
and  left  for  institutions  of  special  instruction.2  At  the  end 
of  the  old  regime,  mathematics  and  science  as  subjects  of 
general  instruction  had  made  little  progress.  In  1782  Hol- 
land enumerated  very  few  institutions  that  were  offering 
special  instruction  in  these  subjects.  He  cites:  chairs  of 
mathematics  at  the  College  Mazarin  and  at  Tours  (1779); 
one  of  experimental  physics  at  the  College  de  Navarre  in 
Paris,  and  two  but  just  founded  in  Toulouse  and  Montpellier 
respectively  (1782).  To  these  he  adds  a  chair  in  hydrogra- 
phy established  the  year  previous  at  the  college  in  Eouen, 
and  one  in  natural  history  at  the  College  Eoyal  (the  College 
of  France).3  A  professor  of  mathematics  and  one  of  natural 
history  had  also  been  appointed  a  few  years  before  at  the 
College  of  Saint-Omer  in  Flanders.  By  this  time  the  course 
in  philosophy  had  been  cut  to  two  years,  the  physics  sharing 
the  time  with  logic,  metaphysics,  and  ethics.  Instruction  in 
all  of  these  four  subjects  was  given  in  Latin,  and  the  scho- 

1  Ratio  atque  institutio  studiorum  societatis  Jesu,  1603,  p.  93.  "Physicae 
auditoribus  explicet  in  schola  tribus  circiter  horae  quadrantibus  Euclidis  ele- 
menta :  In  quibus  postquam  per  duos  menses  aliquantisper  versati  fuerint, 
aliquid  geographiae  vel  sphaerae,  vel  eorum,  quae  libenter  audiri  solent,  ad- 
jungat :  idque  cum  Euclide,  vel  eodem  die,  vel  alternis  diebus."  This  pro- 
gram was  practically  unchanged  until  1832,  when  modifications  were 
introduced  in  order  to  enable  the  Jesuits  to  compete  with  schools  giving 
modern  scientific  instruction. 

2  Guyton  de  Moeveau,  Memoire  sur  Viducation  publique,  1764,  p.  265. 
8  Roll  and,  Plan  a"  education,  p.  117. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  259 

lastic  method  of  the  Middle  Ages  still  persisted.1  The  Kevo- 
lution,  with  its  abolition  of  the  old  order  of  things,  opened 
the  way  for  the  entrance  of  the  scientific  subjects  into  the 
secondary  school  curriculum. 

Talleyrand's  bill,  the  first  great  scheme  introduced  into 
the  legislative  assembly  for  educational  reorganization,  only 
reproduced  the  old  ideals  in  a  modified  form.     n    , 

,  .  »  /-mi  Condorcet  s 

In  the  spring  of  the  following  year  Condorcet  Revolt  against 
ran  quite  to  the  opposite  extreme,  and  his  pro-  Classicism. 
ject  represents  the  almost  absolute  subordination  of  letters  to 
science.  The  program  of  his  Instituts,  corresponding  to 
the  secondary  schools  of  to-day,  contained  little  else  than 
scientific  instruction,  —  science,  mathematical  and  physical ; 
science,  moral  and  political ;  science  pure ;  and  science  applied 
to  the  fine  arts  and  to  the  occupations  of  every-day  life, — 
the  dream  of  an  extremist,  but  nevertheless  the  inevitable 
reaction  in  the  mind  of  one  of  the  great  revolutionists  against 
the  narrow  humanism  of  the  Jesuits  and  the  old  university. 
He  shows  the  radical  nature  of  his  position  in  saying  that 
"  science  is  the  surest  means  for  developing  the  intellectual 
faculties ;  for  teaching  accurate  reasoning  and  correct  analysis 
of  the  thought ; "  .  .  .  that  "  against  prejudice,  against  nar- 
rowness of  mind,  science  furnishes  a  remedy  more  universal, 
if  not  more  trustworthy,  than  philosophy  itself;"  .  .  .  and 
the  books  of  the  ancient  languages,  filled  as  they  are  with 
inaccuracies,  are  more  likely  to  be  a  hindrance  than  a  help 
in  developing  the  reason.2  The  subsequent  schemes  of  edu- 
cational reform  presented  to  the  various  revolutionary  bodies 
vacillated  between  these  two  extremes,  though  the  prevailing 
tendency  was  naturally  toward  the  more  radical  attitude. 
The  breach  in  the  old  humanism  had  been  made,  and  the 
entrance  of  scientific  studies  into  the  secondary  program 
was  henceforth  easy. 

1  Rolland,  Plan  d'6ducation,  p.  114. 

2  Condorcet,  Rapport  et  projet  de  dtcret  sur  V organisation  gtndrale  de 
Vinstruction  publique.  Reprinted  in  Hippeau,  ^instruction  publique  en 
France  pendant  la  Revolution,  p.  203  et  seq. 


260  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Inasmuch  as  scientific  studies  were  already  monopolizing 
one  of  the  three  sections  of  the  course  in  the  Central  Schools, 
Science  in  the  ^  could  not  have  been  entirely  unexpected 
Secondary  when  Napoleon  decreed  (1802)  that  the  sub- 
jects of  the  new  lyce'e  curriculum  should  be 
essentially  Latin  and  mathematics.1  There  were  six  classes 
in  each  subject  which  could  be  covered  in  three  years,  but 
the  two  lowest  classes  in  Latin  formed  a  necessary  introduc- 
tion to  the  lowest  class  in  mathematics.  In  the  beginning 
Latin  class,  the  classical  teacher  taught  ciphering,  and  in 
the  succeeding  class,  the  "four  rules  of  arithmetic,"  thus 
serving  the  double  purpose  of  acquainting  the  Latin  pupils 
with  the  essential  elements  of  arithmetical  knowledge,  and 
of  giving  the  mathematical  pupils  the  fundamental  princi- 
ples upon  which  their  subsequent  work  could  be  based. 
This  science  course  included  besides  mathematics:  natural 
history,  physics,  astronomy,  chemistry,  mineralogy.  At  the 
conclusion  of  this  regular  program,  there  was  a  two-year 
additional  course  in  mathematics,  known  as  mathematiques 
transcendantes,  which  treated  in  the  first  year  the  applica- 
tion of  differential  calculus  to  mechanics  and  the  theory  of 
fluids,  and  the  application  of  geometry  to  plan  and  map 
drawing;  and  in  the  second  year  the  general  principles  of 
advanced  physics,  especially  in  their  application  to  electri- 
city and  optics.-  This  extra  course  was  the  beginning  of  the 
advanced  mathematics  classes  that  we  find  in  the  secondary 
schools  to-day.  Inasmuch  as  after  the  first  two  years  of 
Latin,  these  two  courses  ran  parallel,  it  was  hardly  a  break- 
ing in  of  science  into  the  classical  curriculum,  but  rather  an 
option  between  two  distinct  fields  of  work,  classics  or  science. 
The  program  of  the  Prytanee  of  the  year  before  had  offered 
a  similar  choice  in  the  second  part  of  the  course  between  the 
civil  and  the  military  sections.  This  latter  was  the  real  pre- 
cursor of  the  definite  bifurcation  of  the  course  that  took  place 
under  Minister  Fortoul  in  1852. 

1  Recueil  de  lois  et  reglemens  concernant  V instruction  publique,  II.,  pp.  305- 
307. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  201 


•' 


The  program  of  1814  contains  the  following  interesting 
provision  with  reference  to  science  teaching,  upon  which  un- 
fortunately we  can  throw  no  more  light  than  . 
is  found  in  the  Statute  itself :  "  The  lessons 
in  physics  on  Thursdays  "  (the  secular  holiday  of  the  week,  it 
will  be  remembered)  "  will  be  common  to  the  pupils  of  the 
third,  second,  and  rhetoric  forms.  The  professor  will  teach 
throughout  the  three  years  the  principal  objects  in  natural 
history,  their  most  striking  properties,  and  the  use  to  which 
they  are  put  in  the  arts.  One  year  he  will  study  animals 
and  vegetables;  one  year  minerals  and  chemistry;  one  year 
experimental  physics." *  At  the  same  period  the  mathemat- 
ics work,  although  restricted  to  the  second,  rhetoric,  and 
philosophy  forms,  included  arithmetic,  algebra,  geometry, 
plane  trigonometry,  statics,  and  mathematical  physics.  All 
this  for  classical  pupils  indicates  a  great  advance  in  their 
liberal  culture  over  what  prevailed  even  in  the  first  lyce'e 
plan. 

Aside  from  devoting  the  second  year  of  the  philosophy 
form  (added  in  1820)  entirely  to  mathematics  and  science 
in  1821,  there  was  no  real  fundamental  modification  in  this 
part  of  the  program  until  1840.  At  that  time  Minister 
Cousin,  believing  that  the  science  work  was  not  only  profit- 
less in  itself,  but  was  furthermore  actually  injuring  the 
classical  studies,  boldly  swept  it  all  away  from  the  sixth 
to  the  rhetoric  form  inclusive,  and  massed  it  in  the  phi- 
losophy form.  This  practically  consisted  of  three  sections : 
first  the  old  philosophy;  second  elementary  mathematics, 
a  parallel  course  in  which  the  time  assignments  of  phi- 
losophy and  mathematics  are  exactly  transposed;  and  third 
an  additional  year  called  special  mathematics,  entirely 
devoted  to  mathematics  and  physics.  The  elimination  of  so 
much  mathematics  proved  too  radical  a  measure,  so,  later  in 
the  same  year,  part  of  it  was  restored  and  made  optional. 
Thus  the  scientific  subjects  strove  against  the  classics  with 

1  Recueil  de  lois  et  rhglemens  concernant  I 'instruction  publique,  V.,  p.  516. 


262  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

varying  degrees  of  success,  constantly  gaining  in  prestige,  if 
not  in  recognition  in  the  program,  until  the  bifurcation  of 
Minister  Fortoul  in  1852  1  practically  put  them  on  the  same 
footing.  It  was  a  repetition  of  the  first  lycee  program  with 
a  common  course,  this  time  for  five  years,  and  a  bifurcated 
course  for  four  years  more,  the  letters  section  with  compara- 
tively little  science  preparing  for  the  baccalaureate  in  letters, 
and  the  science  section  with  comparatively  little  Latin  pre- 
paring for  the  baccalaureate  in  science.  The  science  of  the 
letters  program  was  meagre  enough,  including  only  arith- 
metic, geometry,  a  little  physics,  chemistry,  natural  science, 
and  cosmography.  The  real  science  course  on  the  contrary 
was  correspondingly  rich,  at  least  in  subject  matter,  the  pro- 
gram embracing  arithmetic,  geometry,  algebra,  trigonome- 
try, surveying,  analytic  geometry,  plan  drawing,  physics, 
chemistry,  natural  history,  cosmography,  and  mechanics. 
The  preparation  for  the  military  and  engineering  schools 
was  thus  reaching  a  higher  and  higher  level.  In  the  mean- 
time, the  creation  of  a  "  special "  secondary  course,  begun  in 
1848,  and  carried  to  successful  completion  under  Minister 
Duruy  in  1863  and  1866,  originally  including  a  small 
amount  of  Latin,  but  in  its  final  form  entirely  "  modern," 
was  an  effort  to  satisfy  the  growing  demand  for  adequate, 
practical,  mathematical  and  scientific  instruction.  Although 
passing  through  successive  modifications  and  demanding 
more  and  more  time  and  ability  on  the  part  of  its  followers, 
it  never  gained  the  prestige  enjoyed  by  the  classical  culture. 
In  the  eyes  of  the  general  populace  it  was  always  looked  upon 
as  subordinate  to  the  ancient  learning.  The  new  programs 
have  finally  placed  the  scientific  culture  and  the  literary  cul- 
ture on  equal  footing,  at  least  as  far  as  official  prescription 
can  do  so. 

In  the  elementary  classes,  the  science  work  is  restricted  to 
arithmetic  and  nature  study,  or  more  properly  speaking,  nature 

1  Rbglement  cTttudes  des  lycdes,  in  Fortoul,  Reforme  de  Venseignement,  pt. 
I.,  vol.  I.,  p.  99  et  seq. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  263 

talks,  for  it  seldom  rises  to  the  level  of  a  real  study  of  nature 
itself  on  the  part  of  the  pupils.  The  arithmetic  covers  a 
thorough  formal  drill  in  the  four  fundamental 
operations,  both  mental  and  written,  some  at-  ^Sction 
tention  paid  to  fractions,  a  very  elementary 
treatment  of  proportion  and  simple  interest,  and  the  applica- 
tion of  the  metric  system  to  the  measurement  of  surfaces  and 
the  simpler  solids  the  parallelopiped,  cube,  prism,  and  cylin- 
der. The  nature  work  includes,  in  the  beginning  class,  ac- 
quaintance with  the  simple  facts  of  common  knowledge,  direc- 
tion, time,  seasons,  distinction  of  animal,  mineral,  and  vegeta- 
ble kingdoms ;  in  the  preparatory  classes,  the  occupations  and 
the  products  that  touch  their  daily  life,  the  farmer,  the  miller, 
the  baker,  the  vineyardist,  clothing,  fuel,  metals,  means  of 
locomotion ;  in  the  eighth  form,  domestic  and  wild  animals, 
birds,  fish,  insects,  the  forest,  the  field,  the  garden ;  in  the 
seventh  form,  materials  employed  in  construction,  whence 
obtained  and  how  used,  the  winds,  the  different  forms  of 
water,  volcanoes,  fossils.  As  far  as  practicable,  the  teacher 
shows  the  various  objects  to  the  pupils,  and  occasionally  the 
Thursday  afternoon  walks  are  utilized  to  complete  the  knowl- 
edge thus  presented,  but  on  the  whole  the  net  result  amounts 
to  a  good  deal  of  information  about  things  rather  than  a  thor- 
ough, first  hand  acquaintance  with  things.  The  French  child 
finds  in  his  parents  an  inexhaustible  and  ever  ready  source  of 
information  about  the  common  things  of  life,  and  I  am  in- 
clined to  believe  that  this  nature  work  of  the  school  is  im- 
measurably reinforced  by  the  parent  in  the  home.  In  the 
two  years  I  have  spent  in  France,  I  have  overheard  more 
common  knowledge  instruction  while  passing  along  the 
streets  than  in  all  the  rest  of  my  life  in  America. 

The  following  detailed  programs  will  give  a  clearer  idea 
of  the  scope  and  character  of  the  science  instruction  that  is 
given  in  the  secondary  course  proper : 


264  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

SIXTH  FORM 
Division  A 

Arithmetic,  2  hours.  Review  of  operations  with  whole  numbers. 
Mental  work  in  problems,  whole  numbers.  Common  fractions.  Re- 
duction of  fractions  to  common  denominator.    Decimals. 

Natural  Science,  1  hour.  Zoology.  About  three  lessons  devoted 
to  man  and  his  place  in  the  animal  kingdom.  Vertebrates :  mammif  er- 
ous  animals;  birds;  reptiles;  batrachians;  fish.  Articulates:  insects; 
arachnids ;  crustaceans.  Molluscs.  Worms.  Sea  urchins  and  star  fish. 
Polyps  and  medusae.    Sponges. 

Division  B 

Arithmetic,  3  hours.  [Same  program  as  for  Division  A.  ] x  In  addi- 
tion, metric  system  in  its  practical  application  to  area,  volume,  weight, 
density,  time,  velocity.  Proportion  solved  by  reduction.  Simple 
interest. 

Natural  Science,  2  hours.  [Exactly  the  same  program  as  for 
Division  A,  the  extra  time  allowing  a  more  detailed  study.] 

FIFTH   FORM 
Division  A 

Arithmetic,  2  hours.  Metric  system.  Reduction.  Proportion  solved 
by  reduction.  Simple  interest.  Use  of  letters  to  represent  unknown 
quantities.    Simple  problems  leading  to  equations  of  the  first  degree. 

Natural  Science,  1  hour.  Botany.  Elementary  study  of  organs 
of  a  flowering  plant.  Root.  Stalk.  Leaf.  Flower.  Fruit.  Seed.  Great 
divisions  of  vegetable  kingdom.  Phanerogamous  and  cryptogamous 
plants. 

Division  B 

Mathematics,  4  hours.  Arithmetic  [Except  for  the  work  in  pro- 
portion and  the  extraction  of  the  square  root,  substantially  the  same  as 
for  the  fourth  form,  Division  A]. 

Geometry.  [The  same  as  that  for  the  fourth  form,  Division  A,  with 
rather  more  emphasis  upon  the  construction  side.] 

Mechanical  Drawing.  Constructions  met  in  the  geometry.  Simple 
problems  based  on  the  geometry.  Graphic  solutions.  Geometric  de- 
signs applied  to  the  decoration  of  plane  surfaces.    Ink  and  color  wash. 

Natural  Science,  2  hours.  Botany  as  given  in  Division  A,  and 
Geology  as  given  in  the  fourth  form,  Division  A. 

1  The  brackets  [  ]  used  here  and  in  the  following  pages  indicate  the 
author's  summary,  rather  than  the  abbreviated  form  of  the  official  program 
that  is  ordinarily  followed. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  265 

FOURTH  FORM 
Division  A 

Mathematics,  2  hours.  Arithmetic.  Product  of  a  sum  or  a  differ- 
ence by  a  number.  Powers.  Divisibility  by  2,  5,  9,  3.  Prime  numbers. 
G.  C.  D.,  L.  C.  M.  Proportion.  Practical  rule  for  extracting  the  square 
root  of  a  whole  number  or  a  decimal  to  within  less  than  a  given  degree 
of  accuracy. 

Geometry.  Use  of  the  ruler,  square,  compass,  and  protractor. 
Straight  lines.  Angles.  Triangles.  Perpendicular  and  oblique  lines. 
Parallels.  Parallelograms.  Circle.  Measurement  of  angles.  Ele- 
mentary constructions  on  the  straight  line  and  the  circle. 

Natural  Science,  1  hour.  Geology.  Study  of  soil  modifications, 
as  far  as  possible  from  samples  found  in  the  neighborhood.  Rains; 
their  effect  on  the  soil.  Sediment.  Detritus.  Permeable  and  imper- 
meable strata.  Snows.  Winds.  Rocks.  Volcanoes.  Hot  springs. 
Earthquakes.    Life.    Peat.    Coral  islands. 

Division  B 

Mathematics,  Book-keeping,  and  Mechanical  Drawing,  5  hours. 
Arithmetic.  Common  and  decimal  fractions.  Practical  rule  for  ex- 
tracting the  square  root  of  a  whole  number  or  a  decimal  to  within  less 
than  a  given  degree  of  accuracy.  Arithmetical  and  geometrical  pro- 
gression. Commercial  methods  of  computing  interest  and  discount. 
Discounts.    Accounts.    Commercial  Paper. 

Geometry.  Division  of  a  line  in  a  given  ratio.  Proportional  lines. 
Similar  triangles.  Definition  of  sine,  cosine,  and  tangent  of  an  angle. 
Similar  figures.  The  pantograph.  Polygons.  Fourth  proportional. 
Geometric  mean.  Areas  of  polygons.  Area  of  the  circle.  Construc- 
tion of  cissoid,  conchoid,  etc. 

Book-keeping.  Commerce.  Merchants.  Middlemen.  Shipping. 
Bills  and  day  book.1  Receipts  and  cash  book.  Commercial  paper. 
Clearing  house.    Discount  and  bills  of  exchange. 

Mechanical  Drawing.  The  same  program  as  in  the  previous  class. 
Graphical  construction  of  geometric  loci;   tracing  the  curves  with  pen. 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  2  hours.  Physics.  Weight :  first  notions 
of  force,  plumb  line,  center  of  gravity,  double  weighing ;  specific  weights 
and  densities.  Equilibrium  of  liquids  and  gases:  pressure;  hydraulic 
press;  elevators;  principle  of  Archimedes:  atmospheric  pressure; 
Mariotte's •  law.     Heat:    specific  heat;    fusion;    vaporization;    boiling 

1  The  French  system  divides  the  actual  book-keeping  into  three  very  distinct 
groups,  entitled  respectively  comptabiliU  des  marchandises,  de  la  caisse,  and 
du  portefeuille,  which  concern  themselves  respectively  with  the  mere  paper  trans- 
actions of  orders,  bills,  etc.,  with  the  receipt  and  disbursement  of  actual  cash, 
and  with  other  media  of  payment,  checks,  drafts,  notes,  money  orders,  etc., 
and  with  the  operations  of  the  clearing  house. 


266  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

point ;  distillation ;  application  to  transmission  of  heat,  and  protection 
against  heat  and  cold. 

Chemistry.  Various  states  of  matter.  Air.  Oxygen.  Nitrogen. 
Water.  Hydrogen.  Hydrochloric  acid.  Chlorine ;  its  compounds  and 
uses.  Sodium.  Sal  ammoniac.  Metals,  metalloids.  Law  of  definite 
proportions.  Formulae.  Acids,  bases,  salts.  Sulphur.  Saltpetre. 
Phosphorus.    Carbon.    Carbon  dioxide.    Silicon.    Boric  acid. 


THIRD  FORM 
Division  A 

Mathematics,  3  hours.  Arithmetic.  Exercises  upon  the  metric 
system,  and  upon  quantities  directly  and  inversely  proportional. 

Algebra.  Positive  and  negative  numbers.  Monomials  and  poly- 
nomials: addition,  subtraction,  multiplication.  Identity:  x3  —  a3  = 
(x  —  a)  (x2  +  ax  +  a2).  Division  of  monomials.  Numerical  equa- 
tions of  the  first  degree,  one  or  two  unknown  quantities.  Inequalities 
with  one  unknown  of  the  first  degree. 

Geometry.  [Identical  with  the  program  in  the  fourth  form,  Division 
B,  with  the  exception  of  the  area  of  the  circle,  and  the  construction  of 
the  curves.] 

Division  B 

Mathematics,  4  hours.  Algebra.  Positive  and  negative  numbers. 
Monomials,  polynomials:  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication.  Iden- 
tity: (xm  -  am)  =  (x  -  a)  (x™-1  +  axm~2  +  .  .  .  +aw-i).  Division 
of  monomials.  Equations  of  the  first  and  second  degrees.  Relations 
between  coefficients  and  roots.     Graphical  representation  of :    ax  +  b ; 

ax  +  b 
ax2  +  bx  +  c;    — — T~jryi    Four-place  logarithmic  tables.     Compound 

interest. 

Solid  Geometry.  Plane  and  line  in  space.  Dihedral  angles.  Pro- 
jection of  a  polygon,  a  circle.  Polyhedral  angles.  Surface  and  volume, 
prism,  pyramid,  cone,  cylinder.  Tangent  plane.  Circumscribed  sphere, 
cone,  and  cylinder.  Projection  shades  and  shadows.  Surfaces  of  revo- 
lution. Surface  and  volume  of  sphere.  Color  work.  Plan  drawing,  sur- 
veying, levelling. 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  2  hours.  Physics.  Acoustics.  Optics: 
luminous  and  non-luminous  bodies;  reflection  and  refraction;  images; 
vision;  lens;  composition  of  light;  photography.  Electricity:  in- 
duction; electric  machines;  conductors;  magnetic  field;  electrolysis; 
resistance;  ohm;  volt;  watt;  important  applications  of  the  electro- 
magnet; induction;  atmospheric  electricity ;  lightning  rod. 

Chemistry.  Metals  and  alloys.  Sodium.  Limestone.  Oxide  and 
sulphide  ores.  Iron.  Steel.  Copper.  Lead.  Zinc.  Aluminum. 
Porcelain.    Glass.    Silver.    Gold.    Money  alloys.    Organic  Chemistry 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  267 

(half  the  course).  Hydro-carbons.  Illuminating  gas.  Methyl  alcohol. 
Acetic  acid.    Ether  salts.    Glycerine.    Glucose.    Starch.     Phenol. 

Natural  Science,  1  hour.  Zoology.  (In  this  course,  the  teacher, 
in  showing  the  principal  characteristics  of  the  various  functions,  will  pay 
particular  attention  to  the  biological  principles  relating  to  man's  food 
supply  and  health:  hunting,  fishing,  domestication  and  training  of 
animals.  He  will  treat  briefly  the  animals  associated  with  man's  daily 
work,  as  well  as  the  plants  and  animals  that  provide  his  chief  clothing 
supply.) 

Digestion.  Respiration.  Circulation.  Animal  heat.  Nervous 
system.     Locomotion. 

Book-keeping,  1  hour.  Open  accounts.  Theory  of  accounts.  Bal- 
ance sheet.  Inventory.  Investments  in  securities.  Brief  study  of  the 
great  commercial,  economic,  and  financial  institutions. 

The  same  purpose   appears  here   that  has   already   been 
noted  in  the  case  of  the  history   and  geography,  namely : 
to  provide   for  those   pupils  that   may   leave 
school  at  the  end  of  the  first  cycle.     Inasmuch    Co^^ 
as  these  are  more  likely  to  be  found  among      of  the  two 
the  non-classical  pupils,  this  tendency  is  more  Mathematics, 
marked   in    Division   B.      The   scope   of  the 
mathematics  and  science  is  a  little  wider;  the  subjects  bear 
rather  more   strongly  on   the  human   side.     On   the   other 
hand,   inasmuch   as   these   pupils   are   looking   forward   to 
becoming  specialists  in  some  field  of  science,  their  studies 
lay  more  stress  on  the  theoretical  aspect  of  the  subject,  a 
point  typically  exemplified  by  the  following  identities  taken 
from  the  third  form  algebra : 

Division  A  :  xs  —  a3  =  (x  —  a)  (x2  +  ax  +  a2) 

Division  B:  xm  —  am  =  (x  —  a)  (xm  —  *  +  as  »*  —  2+.  .  .  +  am~ *) 

In  spite  of  the  two  extra  hours  for  arithmetic,  Division 
B  covers  very  little  more  ground  than  Division  A,  but  the 
additional  time  permits  a  more  thorough  treatment  of  the 
subjects  in  question  besides  providing  opportunity  for  more 
careful  drill  on  the  processes  most  frequently  used  in  book- 
keeping. The  mechanical  drawing,  which  for  some  peculiar 
reason  is  associated  with  the  mathematics  in  the  sixth,  fifth, 
and  fourth  forms,  in  the  third  form  shifts  over  to  the 
drawing  caption  where  one  would  naturally  expect  to  find  it. 


268  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Throughout  these  first  years,  it  is  very  closely  correlated 
with  the  mathematics,  proving  particularly  useful  in  the 
solid  geometry  of  the  third  form.  The  one  hour  of  book- 
keeping in  the  fourth  form  with  the  possible  additional 
hour  in  the  third  form  finds  no  counterpart  in  Division  A. 
Both  divisions  begin  algebra  in  the  third  form,  and  the 
amount  of  ground  covered  is  somewhat  proportional  to  the 
time  devoted  to  it.  The  advantage,  however,  is  distinctly  in 
favor  of  the  "  modern  "  division,  for  the  Latin  division  does 
little  more  than  make  a  start.  Nominally  it  reaches 
numerical  equations  of  the  first  degree  in  one  or  two 
unknown  quantities,  but  in  so  doing  many  of  the  subjects 
treated  in  our  beginning  algebras  are  passed  over  hastily  or 
else  are  omitted  altogether.  The  work  of  the  other  division 
is  much  more  thorough.  The  plane  geometry  as  covered  by 
the  two  divisions  does  not  differ  widely,  but  the  solid 
geometry  of  the  "  modern "  division  is  not  studied  by  the 
Latin  pupils  until  the  next  cycle,  and  then  only  in  a  most 
perfunctory  fashion.  It  does  little  else  than  familiarize  the 
pupils  with  a  few  of  the  elementary  definitions  of  the 
subject,  and  teaches  them  the  application  of  the  formulas 
for  the  surface  and  volume  of  the  ordinary  figures. 

In  natural  science,  both  divisions  cover  the  fields  of 
zoology,  botany,  and  geology,  in  that  order.  The  course 
entitled  zoology  in  Division  B  of  the  third  form  really  treats 
of  the  physiology  and  hygiene  of  the  human  body,  using 
its  needs  for  nutrition  and  clothing  as  a  point  of  departure 
for  various  digressions  into  the  animal,  vegetable,  and 
mineral  kingdoms.  The  Latin  pupils  have  no  physics  or 
chemistry  in  the  first  cycle. 

If  there  is  any  one  characteristic  that  stands  out  strongly 

in  the  French  teaching  of  mathematics,  that  characteristic 

is  thoroughness.     Whether  it  is  a  little  fellow 

M-Uhematics.     that    haS    JUSfc    entered    tne    sixtn    form    or    * 

young  man  in  the  highest  form  who  is  on  the 
eve  of  his  examination  for  the  Ecole  Polytechnique,  every 
one  is  held  up  to  a  rigid  standard.     The  prevailing  notion 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  269 

throughout  it  all  is  not  to  correct  the  error  after  it  is  made, 
but  rather  to  prevent  it  from  being  made,  a  decidedly  sound 
pedagogical  principle  that  more  of  our  own  teachers  would 
do  well  to  keep  constantly  before  them.  In  order  to  attain 
this  purpose,  the  French  teacher  keeps  close  control  over  the 
processes  of  the  class  room.  It  is  a  rare  sight  to  see  two 
pupils  at  the  board  at  once.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  a  larger 
number  would  be  quite  out  of  the  question,  for  a  blackboard 
six  feet  by  four  feet  is  a  large  board.  The  problem  is  given 
out,  and  the  pupil  goes  to  the  board.  Every  step  taken  is  in 
full  sight  and  under  the  scrutiny  of  the  rest  of  the  class  as 
well  as  the  teacher,  so  there  is  small  chance  of  anybody 
going  very  far  astray.  It  is  inevitable  that  the  apparent 
progress  should  be  slow,  but  it  is  this  very  deliberateness 
that  makes  possible  the  thoroughness  which,  in  its  turn, 
avoids  the  necessity  of  much  repetition  and  saves  time  in  the 
end.  In  the  meantime,  the  rest  of  the  class  at  their  seats 
are  working  out  the  problem  in  their  note  books.  These 
problems,  together  with  the  presentation  of  the  advance  work 
as  given  by  the  teacher,  which  likewise  finds  a  place  in  the 
note  book,  provide  the  major  part  of  the  material  for  outside 
study.  The  endless  round  of  interminable  examples  that 
are  the  bane  of  pupil  and  parent  alike  in  our  own  schools 
finds  no  place  in  the  French  scheme  of  mathematical 
instruction.  The  following  distribution  of  time  that  I 
found  in  one  sixth  form  is  representative  of  the  prevail- 
ing custom :  of  the  four  hours  of  class  work  in  mathematics, 
two  were  spent  in  teaching  and  recitation  proper,  one  in 
the  correction  of  the  home  task  (devoir),  and  one  in  mechan- 
ical drawing.  The  teacher's  estimate  of  the  time  spent 
outside  the  class  room  was :  one  hour  on  drawing,  an  hour 
and  a  half  for  the  task,  and  half  an  hour  apiece  for  the 
preparation  of  each  of  the  other  two  lessons.  This  arrange- 
ment of  two  long  and  two  short  periods  of  preparation 
in  mathematics  is  dovetailed  in  with  a  corresponding 
arrangement  in  other  subjects  so  that  the  outside  prepa- 
ration for  no  one  day  makes  any  inordinate  demand  upon 


270  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  boy's  strength.  The  home  work  on  the  so-called  short 
days  is  merely  a  careful  review  of  what  was  done  in 
class  at  the  preceding  lesson,  the  driving  home  of  the 
principles  by  practice  being  reserved  for  the  weekly  task. 
This  total  of  three  and  a  half  hours  per  week  for  outside 
work  is  materially  increased  in  the  higher  classes. 

The  choice  of  salient  processes  is  another  factor,  with 
the  thoroughness,  in  enabling  the  French  teacher  to  make 
haste  slowly.  In  the  first  cycle  particularly,  the  official 
instructions  afford  him  every  opportunity  to  follow  the 
order  that  seems  best  and  to  use  the  method  he  deems  most 
feasible  for  the  class  in  question.  The  requirements  of  the 
baccalaureate  examination  at  the  end  of  the  second  cycle 
naturally  impose  some  restrictions  on  this  freedom  during 
the  latter  part  of  the  course,  but  in  the  first  part  he  is  quite 
free  to  devote  himself  unhampered  to  the  intellectual  de- 
velopment of  his  pupils.  In  algebra,  for  example,  the  pupil, 
having  already  been  introduced  to  some  of  the  elementary 
algebraic  conceptions  in  connection  with  the  arithmetic  of 
the  sixth,  fifth,  and  fourth  forms,  skips  rapidly  over  much 
of  the  preliminary  formal  work  that  cumbers  most  of  our 
own  texts  (even  factoring  being  very  hastily  treated),  and 
pushes  forward  to  the  solution  of  the  equation.  He  is 
taught  to  regard  algebra  as  a  tool,  and  not  as  an  end  in  itself. 
In  a  third  form  that  I  saw  on  December  27th,  after  having 
spent  only  two  hours  per  week  on  algebra  since  the  previous 
October,  one  of  the  examples  for  the  day  with  the  entire 
solution  was  as  follows : 1 

x_  3  _  1  _  2x  +  l 
5       8""  7 

56a;  -  105  =  280  -  80«  -  40 
UQx  =  345 
_345 
*-~136 
1  In  another  lycee  a  few  days  later,  I  found  the  third  form  boys  solving 
the  following  problem  in  three  unknown  quantities:   "Find  the  number  the 
sum  of  whose  digits  is  14  ;  the  digit  in  the  hundreds  place  is  equal  to  the 
sum  of  the  other  two  ;  and  495  added  to  the  number  with  the  order  of 
the  digits  reversed  will  give  the  original  number." 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  271 

The  pupil  called  to  the  board  worked  rapidly  and  confi- 
dently, talking  as  he  wrote,  and  soon  reached  the  solution 
without  unnecessary  waste  of  time  or  figures.  From  the 
awkward  fraction  in  the  answer,  it  was  perfectly  evident 
that  the  equation  had  not  been  specially  contrived  so  as  to 
come  out  even,  but  there  was  no  expression  of  surprise  at 
the  result.  Another  boy  was  called  to  the  board  to  prove 
the  answer,  an  operation  requiring  considerably  more  work 
than  the  original  solution.  Then  the  teacher  urged  them  to 
look  upon  eveiy  equation  as  a  problem,  and  finally  with  a 
little  skilful  guidance  from  him,  the  class  worked  out  the 
translation  of  this  particular  problem  as  follows :  "  Find  a 
number  the  fifth  part  of  which  if  reduced  by  three-eighths 
would  equal  on«,  diminished  by  the  seventh  part  of  one 
more  than  twice  the  number."  Yet  with  all  this  practical 
tendency,  there  is  a  goodly  amount  of  theoretical  work,  as 
appeared  later  in  the  same  recitation  in  discussing  the  ques- 
tion of  equivalent  equations. 

Throughout  the  mathematics  course  one  is  impressed  with 
the  intimate  relations  existing  among  the  various  subjects. 
Arithmetic  is  not  carried  to  a  certain  point,  there  to  give 
way  to  algebra,  in  its  turn,  perhaps,  to  be  supplemented  by 
geometry,  but  from  the  fifth  form  in  one  division  and  from 
the  fourth  form  in  the  other,  at  least  two  subjects  are  run 
conjointly.  Some-  of  the  difficulties  of  algebra  are  thus 
already  discounted  by  the  elementary  notions  of  the  un- 
known quantity  that  have  previously  been  encountered  in 
the  arithmetic.  Geometry  is  especially  emphasized  in  its 
numerical  aspect,  and  in  the  Division  B,  the  mechanical 
drawing  is  closely  correlated  with  them  all.  The  result  is 
that  the  mathematics  work  appears  as  a  single  unified  sub- 
ject with  several  facets  rather  than  as  so  many  discrete 
studies  of  the  school  curriculum. 

In  the  physical  and  the  natural  sciences  (the  former  in- 
cluding both  physics  and  chemistry),  the  work  in  the  first 
cycle  is  unquestionably  less  satisfactory  from  the  pupil's 
point  of  view,  for  he  practically  never  gets  into  any  closer 


272  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

than  visual  relations  with  the  phenomena  he  is  studying. 
The  teachers  try  to  make  their  subjects  as  practical  as  possi- 
ble, but  without  the  assistance  of  student  labo- 
MSciencem  ratoiT  work,  with  the  immense  fields  to  cover, 
and  with  the  merest  modicum  of  time  in  which 
to  do  it,  it  is  not  surprising  that  pure  memory  plays  such 
a  large  part  in  this  elementary  science  work.  One  can 
expect  little  more  than  a  formal  catalogue  of  names  when 
the  teacher  has  a  single  period  of  fifty  or  at  most  fifty-five 
minutes  in  which  to  complete  the  study  of  the  human  ner- 
vous system  begun  at  the  previous  lesson,  and  to  present  the 
essential  characteristics  of  the  five  senses  and  their  func- 
tions. The  most  skilful  teacher  in  the  world  might  justly 
hesitate  to  undertake  such  an  herculean  task  as  this.  The 
responsibility  for  any  shortcomings  should  be  laid  upon 
the  program  and  not  upon  the  unfortunate  teacher.  The 
work  in  this  particular  sixth  form  that  I  saw  was  profusely 
illustrated  with  charts  hanging  on  the  wall  and  sketches 
put  on  the  board  during  the  course  of  the  lecture,  but  with 
the  exception  of  an  experiment  intended  to  show  the  image 
of  a  candle  flame  inverted  by  a  lens  (the  actual  effect  of 
which  was  so  hazy  that  the  boys  practically  had  to  take  the 
teacher's  word  for  the  fact)  and  two  simple  experiments  to 
show  the  persistency  of  the  retinal  image,  the  teacher  con- 
fined himself  exclusively  to  pictures  of  .the  organs  and  of 
the  phenomena  in  question,  never  once  bringing  the  class 
face  to  face  with  the  reality  itself.  Practically  every  school 
that  I  visited  had  a  well  equipped  natural  history  collection. 
The  science  teachers  ordinarily  draw  liberally  on  these  for 
specimens  to  carry  to  their  class  rooms,  but  so  far  as  I  could 
find  out  the  pupils  never  had  an  opportunity  to  see  the  col- 
lection in  its  own  room.  That  is  reserved  to  delight  the 
eyes  of  the  professor  in  charge  of  the  work  or  to  excite 
the  admiration  of  the  casual  visitor.  The  French  point  of 
view  is  perfectly  clear.  It  is  based  upon  the  idea  that  these 
specimens  can  be  most  effectively  studied  only  when  isolated 
and  considered  in  their  proper  places  in  the  general  develop- 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  273 

ment  of  the  subject,  but  it  disregards  completely  the  added 
interest  and  even  inspiration  that  are  likely  to  result  from 
viewing  the  collection  as  a  whole.  Such  a  thing  as  pupils 
browsing  freely  about  a  museum  of  any  sort  is  entirely 
foreign  to  the  French  conception  of  education. 

The  physics  and  chemistry  of  the  first  cycle  are  decidedly 
elementary,  serving  merely  to  introduce  the  pupils  to  the 
study  of  these  sciences,  and  constantly  emphasizing  their 
practical  application  to  the  uses  of  modern  life.  There  is 
no  text-book  employed,  the  teacher  proceeding  entirely  by 
the  demonstration-lecture  method. 

The  following  programs  of  the  work  of  the  second  cycle 
will  indicate  the  more  advanced  treatment  of  the  scientific 
subjects : 

SECOND  FORM 

Mathematics,  2  hours,  first  semester.  (Program  common  to  Sec- 
tions A  and  B.) 

Algebra.  Exercises  on  equations  of  the  first  degree,  and  on  the 
representation  of  the  variations  in  the  function  ax  +  b. 

Solid  Geometry.  The  plane  and  the  straight  line  in  space.  Dihe- 
dral angle.  Definitions  of  polyhedral  angles,  pyramid,  prism.  Rules 
for  surface  and  volume  of  the  prism,  pyramid,  cylinder,  cone,  and 
sphere. 

Physics,  1  hour.  (Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B.)  [The 
same  general  subjects  as  studied  in  the  fourth  form,  Division  B,  a 
little  less  technically  treated.] 

Geology,  12  lectures  of  one  hour  each.  (Program  common  to  Sec- 
tions A,  B,  C,  and  D.)  Brief  summary  of  present  day  phenomena :  com- 
parison with  early  phenomena.  Paleozoic  period:  chief  animal  forms; 
partition  of  oceans  and  continents.  Mesozoic  period :  reptiles,  first 
birds  and  mammiferous  animals;  flowering  plants;  rocks.  Tertiary 
period :  mammiferous  animals ;  discoveries  of  Cuvier ;  formation  of 
mountain  ranges.  Quaternary  period :  glacial  formations;  man;  vol- 
canic phenomena  of  the  tertiary  and  quaternary  periods. 

Mathematics,  5  hours.     (Program  common  to  Sections  C  and  D.) 

Algebra.  [Practically  the  same  topics  as  in  the  third  form,  Division 
B,  with  the  addition  of  problems,  inequalities  of  the  first  and  second 
degrees,  the  derivative,  arithmetical  and  geometrical  progression.  The- 
oretical discussions,  especially  in  studying  the  progressions  and  expo- 
nents, begin  to  receive  more  and  more  attention.] 

Plane  Geometry.  Line  and  surface :  angles ;  triangles,  kind,  equal- 
ity; locus;  parallels;  sum  of  the  angles  of  a  triangle ;  of  a  convex  poly- 

18 


274  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

gon;  parallelograms;  symmetry;  translation  of  a  rigid  plane  figure. 
Circle :  intersection  of  straight  line  and  circle ;  tangent ;  arcs  and  chords ; 
measure  of  angles;  rotation  about  a  point;  translation.  Proportional 
lengths:  divide  a  line  in  a  given  ratio;  similar  triangles;  harmonic 
pencil;  bisectors  of  a  triangle;  locus;  centers  of  similarity;  similar 
polygons;  sine,  cosine,  tangent,  and  cotangent  of  angles  between  zero 
and  two  right  angles;  fourth  proportional;  mean  proportional;  regu- 
lar polygons;  relation  of  circumference  to  diameter;  calculation  of  ir 
(using  the  perimeters  of  regular  polygons).  Area  of  polygons;  of  the 
circle ;  ratio  of  the  areas  of  similar  polygons ;  of  two  circles.  Elementary 
principles  of  surveying. 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  C 
and  D.) 

Physics.  [The  same  general  topics  as  in  the  fourth  form,  Division  B, 
the  extra  time  together  with  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  earlier 
study  making  it  possible  to  treat  each  topic  more  fully.] 

Chemistry.  [The  same  observation  applies  here  as  in  the  physics 
above.] 

Science  Laboratory,  2  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  C 
and  D.) 

FIRST  FORM 

Mathematics,  2  hours,  second  semester.  (Program  common  to 
Sections  A  and  B.) 

Algebra.  Exercises  on  numerical  equations  of  the  first  degree  in 
one  or  more  unknown  quantities,  and  of  the  second  degree  in  one  un- 
known, graphic  representation  of  the  variations  of  x2  and  -. 

x 

Geometry.  Measure  of  angles.  Similar  plane  figures.  Definition  of 
sine,  cosine,  and  tangent  of  an  angle  between  zero  and  two  right  angles. 
Metrical  relations  in  the  triangle  and  the  circle.  Areas  of  plane  figures. 
Rules  for  finding  surfaces  and  volumes  of  prisms,  pyramids,  cylinders, 
cones,  and  spheres. 

Physics,  1  hour.  (Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B.)  [The 
same  general  subjects  as  studied  in  the  third  form,  Division  B,  a  little 
less  technically  treated.] 

Mathematics,  5  hours.    (Program  common  to  Sections  C  and  D.) 

Geometry.  Plane,  and  straight  line;  determination  of  a  plane; 
parallelism  and  perpendicularity  of  lines  and  planes;  dihedral  angle; 
obliques  to  a  plane ;  projection  of  a  plane;  area;  translation;  rotation; 
symmetry.  Trihedral  angles ;  similarity ;  polyhedrons ;  prisms ;  pyra- 
mid ;  symmetry  of  cubes ;  volume  of  parallelopiped,  of  prism,  of  pyra- 
mid, of  frustum  of  a  pyramid,  of  truncated,  triangular  prism.  Circular 
cylinder  and  cones,  sphere;  area  and  volume  of  the  foregoing.  Tangent 
plane. 

Descriptive  Geometry.  The  point.  Distance  between  two  points. 
Intersecting  and  parallel  lines.     The  plane.     Rabattement  on  a  hori- 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  275 

zontal  plane.  Angle  between  two  lines.  Distance  from  a  point  to  a  line. 
Intersection  of  lines  and  planes.  Application  to  shades  and  shadows. 
Distance  from  a  point  to  a  plane.  Angle  between  a  line  and  a  plane, 
between  two  planes. 

Representation  of  a  point,  a  line,  and  a  plane,  by  means  of  two  planes 
of  projection.  Intersection  of  lines  and  planes.  Parallel  and  perpen- 
dicular lines  and  planes.    Rabattement.    Practical  applications. 

Trigonometry.  Trigonometric  functions  (sine,  cosine,  tangent,  co- 
tangent), p  ~,  etc.  Theory  of  projections.  Formula  for  sin  2a,  cos  2a, 
tan  2a.    Rational  expression  of  all  trigonometric  functions  of  the  angle 

a  in  terms  of  tan  -.    Given  cos  a=  b;  to  find  value  of  sin  -  and  cos  -. 

2  Z  Z 

Similarly    for    tan     —     Sums   or    differences    of    the    trigonometric 

m 

functions  of  two  angles  in  terms  of  products.  Inverse  problem.  Express 
a  cos  (at  +  a)  +  b  cos  (at  +  /3),  where  t  is  the  only  variable.  Use  of 
four  or  five  place  logarithmic  tables.  Solution  of  right  triangles.  Solu- 
tion or  discussion  of  simple  trigonometric  equations.  Relations  between 
the  sides  and  angles  of  a  triangle.    Solution  of  triangles. 

Algebra.  Equation  and  trinomial  of  the  second  degree.  Derivatives 
of  simple  functions.  Variation  and  graphical  representation.  Recti- 
linear movement,  using  derivatives.  Velocity  and  acceleration.  Uni- 
formly accelerated  motion.  (Teachers  should  apply  algebraic  theory 
to  numerous  examples  from  algebra,  trigonometry,  and  geometry.) 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections 
C  and  D.) 

Physics.  [The  same  general  topics  as  in  the  third  form,  Division  B, 
the  extra  time  together  with  the  assistance  rendered  by  the  earlier  study 
making  it  possible  to  treat  each  topic  more  fully.] 

Chemistry.  [The  same  observation  applies  here  as  in  the  physics 
above.] 

Laboratory  work,  2  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  C 
and  D.) 

PHILOSOPHY  FORM 

Mathematics,  2  hours.  Cosmography,  1  hour  for  one  semester. 
(Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B.) 

Mathematics.  Review  of  positive  and  negative  numbers.  Devel- 
opment: (a  +  b)2,  (a  +  6)3.  Identity:  an  +  »  -  bn  +  l  -  (a  -  b)  (a* 
+  an  b  +  ...  +  6n).  Geometrical  algebra  of  the  Greeks:  a  number 
represented  by  a  line;  a  product  by  the  surface  of  a  rectangle;  figures 

equivalent  to  the  identities:     (a  ±b)2  =  a2  ±  2ab  +  b2,    ( — - — y  — 

(  — - —  J  =  ab.  Construction :  square  on  the  hypothenuse ;  rectangle 
having  a  given  side  and  on  given  line  equivalent  to  given  rectangle; 


276  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

rectangle  equivalent  to  given  square,  knowing  the  sum  and  difference  of 
its  sides,  followed  by  expressions  of  these  sides.  Solution  of  algebraic 
equation  of  the  second  degree,  with  application  to  the  preceding  problem ; 
comparison  of  the  results.  Advantages  of  the  modern  notation,  par- 
ticularly of  positive  and  negative  numbers. 

Determination  of  a  point  in  a  plane,  given  two  numbers;  inverse 
representation.  Co-ordinates;  latitude  and  longitude.  Graphic  repre- 
sentation of  variation  of  phenomena  with  a  single  variable;  curves  of 
temperature,  pressure;  application  to  statistics.  Functions;  graphic 
representation  of: 

y  -  ax;    y  =  ax  +  b;    y  =  x2;    y  -  x3;    y  =  -. 

x 

Construction  of  straight  line  denned  by  a  numerical  equation  of  the 
first  degree  in  x  and  y ;  slope  of  the  line.  Co-ordinate  paper.  Solu- 
tion of  two  numerical  equations  of  the  first  degree  in  two  unknowns  by 
intersection  of  two  straight  lines;  of  numerical  equations  of  the  form: 

x2  +  px  +  q  =  0,    x3  +  px  +  q  =  0 

by  the  intersection  of  curves  whose  equations  are : 


with  the  straight  line  whose  equation  is  y  +  px  +  q  =  0.  Plots  of  em- 
pirical railway  tables.  Curves  drawn  by  self-registering  machines. 
Construction  of  simple  curves  defined  geometrically;  their  equations. 
Tangent  and  derivative.  Tangent  obtained  geometrically  as  limit  of 
a  secant  (circle,  parabola).  Slope  of  tangent;  application  to  simple 
cases : 

y  =  x2,   y  =  x3,  y  =  -. 

x 

Derivative  in  its  relation  to  the  variation  of  a  function. 

Approximate  area  of  curve  by  plotting  and  counting  squares;  con- 
trol of  error.  Area  of  triangle  as  common  limit  of  sums  of  the  areas  of 
two  sets  of  rectangles.  Function  with  a  given  derivative.  Area  of 
parabola.  Area  of  triangle  or  parabola  by  obtaining  the  function 
whose  derivative  is  ax  or  ax2. 

Application  of  infinitesimal  method  to  evaluating  volumes  or  surfaces 
of  bodies  in  elementary  geometry. 

Cosmography,  1  hour  for  a  semester.  Copernican  system.  The 
sun:  size,  distance,  constitution,  rotation,  spots.  Planets.  Earth: 
form,  dimensions,  rotation,  poles,  equator,  meridians,  parallels,  longi- 
tude, latitude.  Moon:  movement,  constitution.  Comets;  shooting 
stars ;  aerolites.    Stars,  nebulae,  milky  way. 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  3  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections 
A  and  B.) 

Physics.  [The  topics  of  Division  A  of  the  second  and  first  forms  are 
here  treated  again,  this  time  with  more  attention  to  their  application: 
e.  g.t  the  principle  of  the  pendulum  as  applied  to  the  clock;  conservation 
and  dissipation  of  energy;  Gramme  machine;  telephone;  microphone; 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  277 

cathode  and  X-rays.  Periodic  movements  with  longitudinal  and  trans- 
verse vibrations,  waves,  and  interference  introduce  a  new  topic.  Sound 
and  optics  are  more  fully  treated.  Under  the  former  are  included :  the 
phonograph ;  velocity  of  sound ;  music ;  physiological  qualities  and  the 
physical  interpretation  of  musical  sounds;  vibrating  chords  (laws); 
harmonics;  and  resonators.  Under  the  latter  are  treated:  analogies 
between  light  and  sound;  hypothesis  of  light  vibrations;  radiation 
from  ultra-red  to  ultra-violet  rays;  phosphorescence  and  fluorescence.] 

Chemistry.  [Except  for  the  oxide  and  sulphide  ores,  some  of  the  less 
important  alloys,  aluminum,  porcelain,  and  glass,  this  program  is 
identical  with  that  of  Division  B  in  the  fourth  and  third  forms  above.] 

Natural  Science,  2  hours.  (Program  common  to  Philosophy  A 
and  B,  and  to  Mathematics  A  and  B.1) 

Animal  and  Vegetable  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  Life  phenom- 
ena common  to  the  two  kingdoms.  Elements  of  living  things,  multipli- 
cation, nutrition. 

Animal  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  Tissues.  Type  organizations  of 
animal  kingdom.  Man ;  nutrition ;  digestion ;  circulation ;  absorption ; 
respiration;  animal  heat;  elimination  of  waste.  Nervous  system. 
Sense  organs.    Locomotion.    Larynx  and  voice. 

Paleontology,  at  least  five  lessons  of  one  hour.  General  idea  of 
configuration  of  land  and  sea  during  the  paleozoic,  mesozoic,  and  ter- 
tiary periods.  Animals  of  paleozoic,  of  mesozoic,  of  tertiary,  and  of 
quaternary  periods.  Evolution  of  mammiferous  animals.  History  of 
the  horse.    Man. 

Vegetable  Anatomy  and  Physiology.  Typical  forms  of  the  vege- 
table kingdom.  Physiology  of  phanerogams.  Nutrition:  root,  stalk, 
leaf.  Nitrification.  Respiration.  Parasitic  plants.  Reproduction: 
flower;  fertilization  and  development;  fruit  and  seeds.  Germination. 
Reproduction  of  cryptogams  and  phanerogams.    Vegetable  evolution. 

Hygiene,  12  lectures  of  one  hour.  (Program  common  to  Philoso- 
phy A  and  B,  and  to  Mathematics  A  and  B.) 

Water:  spring,  river,  well,  drinkable;  contamination;  purification. 
Air:  amount  necessary  for  health;  renewal;  ventilation;  contamina- 
tion and  change.  Nourishment :  meat,  wholesome,  decayed ;  parasites 
introduced  into  human  body.  Alcoholic  beverages : 2  fermented,  dis- 
tilled, cordials ;  effects.  Drunkenness  and  alcoholism.  Exercise :  under 
and  over  exercise.  Principal  contagious  and  infectious  diseases :  propa- 
gation. Transmission  through  excrement  or  expectoration :  typhoid, 
cholera,  tuberculosis.  Receptivity  and  immunity;  resistance;  vario- 
loid and  vaccine;  revaccination ;  inoculation  against  anthrax,  hydro- 
phobia, diphtheria.  The  dwelling:  salubrity  of  the  house;  aeration; 
isolation  of  the  soil ;  the  sanitary  and  unsanitary  house.  Domestic  ani- 
mals: transmitters  of  disease;  their  sanitation. 

1  For  laboratory  work,  required  of  all  sections,  see  under  Science  Labora- 
tory for  the  mathematics  form,  p.  280. 

2  At  least  one  lesson  shall  be  devoted  to  the  consideration  of  alcoholic  drinks. 


278  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

MATHEMATICS   FORM 

Mathematics,  8  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections  A  and  B.) 
Arithmetic.  [General  view  of  arithmetic,  including  measure  of  mag- 
nitude (demonstrate:  the  ratio  of  two  magnitudes  of  the  same  kind  is 
equal  to  the  quotient  of  their  numerical  measures).]  Determination  of 
the  upper  limit  of  the  error  of  a  sum,  difference,  product,  or  a  quotient, 
when  given  the  upper  limit  of  the  errors  of  the  constituent  quantities. 
Algebra.  [General  review  of  algebra  previously  covered  without 
developing  the  theory  of  imaginaries.]  Variations  and  graphical  repre- 
sentation of  the  functions : 

ax  +  b 
y  =  ax  +  b;    y  =  — —  ;    y  =  ax2  +  bx  +  c;   y  =  ax4  +  bx2  +  c. 

Derivative  of  a  sum,  product,  quotient,  of  the  square  root  of  a  func- 
tion, of  sin  x,  cos  x,  tan  x,  cot  x.  Application  of  the  study  of  variation  to 
finding  the  maxima  and  minima  of  certain  simple  functions,  especially 
those  of  the  form: 

ax2  +  bx  +  c 

ay  +  b>x  +  c>:  x  +px  +  9' 

with  numerical  coefficients. 

Derivation  of  the  area  of  a  curve  regarded  as  a  function  of  the  ab- 
scissa. (The  teacher  is  to  avoid  undue  rigor  and  freely  appeal  to  geo- 
metric intuition  in  discussing  derivatives.) 

Trigonometry.  Trigonometric  functions.  Addition  and  subtrac- 
tion of  arcs.  Multiplication  and  division  by  2.  Solution  of  triangles. 
Applications  of  trigonometry.  (No  reference  to  the  construction  of 
trigonometric  tables.) 

Geometry.  Fundamental  conclusions  of  plane  and  solid  geometry. 
Power  of  a  point  with  respect  to  the  circle  and  the  sphere.  Radical  axes 
and  planes.  Polar  of  a  point  with  respect  to  the  circle.  Polar  plane  of 
a  point  with  respect  to  the  sphere.  Inversion.  Applications.  Peau- 
cellier's  cell.     Stereographic  projection. 

Vectors.  Projection  of  a  vector.  Geometric  addition.  Linear  mo- 
ment with  regard  to  a  point.  Moment  with  regard  to  an  axis.  Appli- 
cation to  couples. 

Perspective.  Of  a  point,  straight  line,  curve.  Vanishing  point  of  a 
line.  Perspective  of  two  parallel  lines.  Vanishing  line  of  a  plane.  Con- 
ception of  the  line  at  infinity. 

Conic  Sections.  Ellipse:  construction;  tangent,  problems;  equa- 
tion of  ellipse  with  reference  to  its  axes;  considered  as  projection  of  a 
circle.  Intersection  of  ellipse  and  straight  line.  Hyperbola:  con- 
struction; tangent,  problems;  asymptotes;  equation  of  hyperbola  with 
reference  to  its  axes.  Parabola:  construction;  tangent,  problems; 
equation  of  parabola  with  reference  to  its  axis  and  the  tangent  at  the 
vertex.  Common  definition  of  these  curves  by  means  of  focus  and 
directrix.    Plane  sections  of  cone  or  cylinder  of  revolution. 

Descriptive  Geometry.  Angles  between  planes  and  straight  lines. 
Distances  between  points,  lines,  and  planes. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  279 

Projection  of  a  circle.  Sphere;  plane  section,  intersection  with  a 
straight  line.  Circular  cone  and  cylinder;  tangent  plane  passing 
through  a  point,  or  parallel  to  a  line;  shadows;  plane  sections.  Cir- 
cumscribed cones  and  cylinders;  shadows. 

Representation  of  a  surface  by  contour  lines.  Co-ordinate  of  a  point 
on  surface  whose  horizontal  projection  is  given.  Slope  of  a  line  drawn 
on  a  surface.  Lines  of  equal  slope;  of  greatest  slope.  Topographic 
maps. 

Planimetry  and  levelling.  Conventional  markings  and  colorings. 
Map  reading;    use  in  the  field. 

Kinematics.  Units  of  length  and  time.  Motion.  Trajectory  of 
point.  Rectilinear  motion;  uniform  motion;  velocity  of  a  vector. 
Variable  motion ;  mean  velocity ;  velocity  at  an  instant.  Acceleration; 
acceleration  at  an  instant,  a  vector ;  mean  acceleration.  Uniformly  ac- 
celerated motion.  Curvilinear  motion.  Resolved  velocities.  Hodo- 
graph. 

Uniform  circular  motion;  harmonic  motion.  Composition  of  veloci- 
ties. Applications.  Translation  and  rotation  about  an  axis  of  a  rigid 
body.    Helicoidal  motion.    Simple  machines. 

Dynamics  and  Statics.  Of  a  particle.  Inertia;  force;  mass;  re- 
sultant. Equilibrium  of  a  particle,  free,  on  a  curve,  on  a  surface,  on  a 
friction  plane.  Vertical  and  parabolic  movement  of  a  particle.  Slid- 
ing friction.  Work ;  unit  of  work ;  work  of  a  constant,  and  a  variable 
force ;  virtual  work ;  total  work ;  indicator  diagrams ;  energy. 

Of  a  rigid  body.  Parallel  forces;  center  of  gravity;  examples. 
Couples.  Resultant  of  a  system  of  forces.  Conditions  of  equilibrium 
of  a  rigid  body.  Equilibrium  of  a  rigid  body  turning  about  a  fixed  axis, 
about  a  point. 

Of  simple  machines.  Relation  between  power  and  resistance.  Theo- 
rem of  vis  viva.    Friction.    Efficiency.    Fly  wheels,  and  brakes. 

Cosmography.  Celestial  sphere:  zenith;  theodolite;  laws  of  diur- 
nal movement;  meridian;  pole;  sidereal  day;  right  ascension  and 
declination.  Earth:  geographical  co-ordinates;  dimensions  and  relief 
of  the  earth ;  world  maps ;  charts.  Sun :  apparent  movement  along  the 
ecliptic:  inequality  of  days  and  nights  in  various  latitudes;  seasons; 
tropical  and  sidereal  year;  sidereal  time;  mean  time;  civil  time. 
Julian  and  Gregorian  calendars.  Moon :  apparent  movement ;  phases ; 
rotation;  variation  in  apparent  diameter.  Lunar  and  solar  eclipses. 
Planets:  Copernican  system;  Kepler's  and  Newton's  laws.  Distance, 
dimension,  physical  constitution  of  the  sun,  planets,  and  their  satel- 
lites. Comets;  meteors;  meteorites.  Stars;  constellations.  Nebulae. 
Milky  Way. 

Physics  and  Chemistry,  5  hours.  (Program  common  to  Sections 
A  and  B.) 

Physics.  [The  program  is  very  similar  to  that  in  the  philosophy 
form,  save  that  the  topics  are  taken  up  a  little  more  technically,  and 
with  greater  emphasis  upon  their  applications  in  the  fields  of  mechanics 
and  electricity.] 


280  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Chemistry.  General  principles  of  chemical  combinations.  Qualita- 
tive analysis.  Review  of  the  characteristics  of  the  elements  and  com- 
pounds so  as  to  recognize  their  existence  in  chemical  combinations. 
Quantitative  and  volumetric  analysis.  Quantitative  chemistry.  Sym- 
bols; formulae.  Molecules:  determination  of  molecular  weights. 
Atoms :  determination  of  atomic  weights.  Valence.  Acids,  bases,  and 
salts.  Alkaline  metals  and  alkaline  earths ;  ordinary  compounds.  Iron : 
iron  sulphate.  Zinc:  zinc  sulphate.  Lead:  red  lead,  white  lead. 
Copper :  sulphate  of  copper.  Mercury :  chlorate  of  mercury.  Classi- 
fication of  the  metalloids.  Distinctive  characteristics  of :  oxides,  sul- 
phides, the  principal  kinds  of  salts  (chlorides,  carbonates,  sulphates, 
nitrates).  Chemical  equilibrium  (experimental).  Dissociation.  Ber- 
thollet's  laws.    Heat  of  combination.    Thermo-chemistry. 

Organic  Chemistry.  Principles  of  organic  analysis.  Synthesis. 
Graphic  formulae.  Functions  in  organic  chemistry.  Hydro-carbons. 
Halogens.  Ethyl  alcohol.  Ether.  Aldehyde.  Acetic  acid;  ether  salts; 
urates.  Cyanogen.  Glycerine,  oxalic  acid,  lactic  acid.  Benzines. 
Phenol ;  aniline.    Nitrogenous  substances.    Albumen. 

Natural  Science,  2  hours.  Same  program  as  in  the  Philosophy 
form. 

Science  Laboratory,  2  hours.  Physics,  Chemistry,  Natural  Science. 
(Program  common  to  Mathematics  A  and  B.) 

In  the  mathematics  form,  a  certain  number  of  laboratory  exercises  will 
review  the  most  important  topics  of  the  second  and  first  forms.  Five 
or  six  of  these  will  be  set  apart  for  natural  science.  These  will  be  com- 
mon to  the  four  sections  of  the  philosophy  and  mathematics  forms. 

Hygiene,  12  lectures  of  one  hour.  Same  program  as  in  the  philoso- 
phy form. 

Until  1904,  the  programs  in  the  graduate  classes  known 
as  the  special  mathematics  form  were  more  or  less  confused. 
.r  ,        .      The  entrance  examinations  for  the  ficole  Poly- 
and  Science    technique  required  certain  things  that  were  not 
in  the  Higher   demanded  by  the  IJJcole  Centrale  and  vice  versa. 
While    this    diversity    caused    no    particular 
inconvenience  for  the  Paris  schools  where  the  classes  were 
large  enough  to  have  special  sections  for  each  of  the  various 
government  engineering  schools,  it  was  decidedly  awkward 
for  the  provincial  lyce'es  where  the  classes  were  considerably 
smaller.     In  accordance  with  the  report  of  a  special  com- 
mission appointed  for  that  purpose,  the  program  of  these 
graduate  classes  was  revised  so  as  to  obviate  most  of  these 
difficulties.     Now  the  requirements  for  these  schools  present 
no  very  great  variation,  so  that  a  pupil  who  has  failed  in  the 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  281 

competition  for  one  can  readily  present  himself  for  anotheT 
without  any  material  loss  of  time.  The  reforms  tend  in  gen- 
eral toward  minimizing  the  emphasis  upon  pure  theory,  the 
teachers  being  specifically  urged  not  to  give  any  theory 
without  making  numerous  applications,  choosing  them  pref- 
erably from  those  which  will  be  encountered  later  in  the 
fields  of  physics  and  mechanics.  Analytic  geometry  has 
consequently  been  considerably  simplified,  and  mathemati- 
cal analysis  correspondingly  developed.  The  program  in- 
cludes a  more  exhaustive  study  of  the  subjects  of  the  ordi- 
nary mathematics  form :  advanced  algebra,  trigonometry, 
plane  and  solid  analytical  geometry,  mechanics,  descriptive 
geometry,  physics,  and  chemistry. 

The  general  method  of  procedure  in  mathematics  instruc- 
tion in  the  upper  classes  does  not  differ  materially  from  that 
already  described  for  the  first  cycle.  A  mere 
casual  study  of  the  detailed  program  will  scope  of  the 
show  that  it  still  follows  the  concentric  circle  Mathematics 
plan,  the  work  of  each  succeeding  class  gradu- 
ally broadening  the  field  already  covered.  In  Sections  G 
and  D  of  the  second  and  first  forms,  we  find  for  the  first  time 
courses  in  plane  geometry,  solid  geometry,  and  trigonometry 
that  resemble  very  closely  the  corresponding  courses  in  our 
American  high  schools,  whereas  in  the  preceding  and  in 
succeeding  forms,  these  same  subjects  are  treated  respectively 
in  a  more  elementary  and  a  more  advanced  fashion.  The 
greater  freedom  accorded  the  teachers  under  the  present 
conditions  results  in  more  or  less  diversity  in  topical  se- 
quence, a  diversity  materially  enhanced  by  the  prevailing 
concentric  circle  plan  of  instruction.  In  the  main  the 
teachers  adhere  reasonably  closely  to  the  order  of  topics  of 
the  official  program,  yet  from  time  to  time  one  finds  orig- 
inal spirits  venturesome  enough  to  depart  from  this  very  rad- 
ically. If  their  plans  succeed  and  their  pupils  stand  the 
test,  they  receive  official  support  and  naturally  make  more 
rapid  progress  toward  a  Paris  appointment.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  results  are  correspondingly  disastrous  in  case  of 


282  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

failure.  I  found  one  teacher  in  the  mathematics  form  dis- 
tributing his  work  in  the  following  intensive  fashion,  con- 
centrating all  the  eight  hours  per  week  on  a  single  subject 
from  the  beginning  of  the  year  practically  until  the  beginning 
of  the  general  review  at  Pentecost :  October,  geometry  ;  No- 
vember and  December,  algebra ;  January,  kinematics  of  the 
point;  first  half  of  February,  conic  sections;  last  half  of 
February  and  first  half  of  March,  kinematics  of  a  rigid  body, 
machines ;  from  the  middle  of  March  until  the  Easter  vaca- 
tion, descriptive  geometry ;  May,  cosmography,  and  finally 
arithmetic.  Trigonometry  monopolized  the  attention  at  no 
particular  period,  but  was  brought  in  from  time  to  time  as 
the  occasion  required.  This  by  no  means  indicates  that  it 
was  neglected.  On  the  contrary  it  seems  fairly  to  permeate 
the  whole  program,  and  it  is  utilized  in  some  form  or  other 
in  the  great  majority  of  the  problems  in  the  mathematics 
examinations.  The  above  plan  of  work  also  shows  roughly 
the  relative  amount  of  time  devoted  to  each  of  the  various 
branches,  algebra  receiving  approximately  two  months, 
mechanics  a  month  and  a  half,  arithmetic,  geometry,  and 
descriptive  geometry,  a  month  each,  and  conic  sections  and 
cosmography  a  half  a  month  each,  the  rest  of  the  year  being 
given  over  to  review.  This  particular  teacher  spent  a  period 
or  two  a  week  on  the  general  review  from  Easter  to  Pente- 
cost. From  this  latter  date,  which  in  1908  came  at  the 
end  of  the  first  week  in  June,  the  time  was  exclusively 
devoted  to  reviewing  the  work  of  the  year.  To  some  this 
may  seem  a  disproportionate  amount  of  time  for  review, 
amounting  as  it  does  to  nearly  a  fifth  of  the  actual  school 
year,  but  it  is  typical  of  French  educational  practice  gener- 
ally, showing  unmistakably  the  importance  attached  to  this 
phase  of  instruction,  and  it  goes  a  long  way  toward  guaran- 
teeing not  only  that  the  pupils  know  thoroughly  the  work 
they  have  been  over,  but  furthermore  that  they  shall  have  that 
knowledge  where  it  is  readily  available.  By  the  end  of  the  reg- 
ular course  for  the  baccalaureate,  the  French  science  student 
has  advanced  about  as  far  as  has  his  American  cousin  at  the 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  283 

completion  of  the  freshman  year  in  our  best  technical  schools. 
The  instruction  in  the  following  special  mathematics  form 
which  prepares  for  the  government  scientific  schools  carries 
one  considerably  farther  than  that,  and  is  quite  on  a  par 
with  that  given  in  the  science  faculties  of  the  universities. 
Throughout  it  all  one  is  constantly  impressed  with  the  pre- 
vailing unity  that  has  been  already  noted  more  than  once. 
The  teacher  is  not  teaching  algebra,  or  geometry,  or  trigo- 
nometry, but  he  is  teaching  mathematics,  these  various 
branches  being  mere  subdivisions  of  the  general  science,  and 
invariably  subordinate  to  it. 

The  science  course  in  Sections  C  and  D  is  considerably 
vitalized  by  the  introduction  of  laboratory  work,  although 
the  other  two  sections  are  still  handicapped  Methods  in 
by  the  more  formal  nature  of  the  instruction  in  Science 
the  lower  forms,  thereby  suggesting  that  some  Instruction- 
of  the  more  practical  of  Eousseau's  educational  ideas  are  still 
imperfectly  appreciated  by  his  own  countrymen.  The  fail- 
ure to  apply  at  least  a  part  of  this  science  instruction  to  the 
practical  affairs  of  life  was  very  forcibly  brought  to  my  at- 
tention. The  program  of  the  lectures  in  hygiene  requires 
the  teacher  to  discuss  the  subject  of  fresh  air,  the  necessity 
of  ventilation,  and  the"  dangers  from  contamination,  yet  in  the 
great  majority  of  the  class  rooms  I  visited  the  air  was  atro- 
ciously bad,  and  in  but  few  cases  did  the  teacher  make  any 
effort  to  improve  it.  One  is  justified  in  questioning  how  ef- 
fective the  lecture  method  ever  is,  as  far  as  practical  results 
are  concerned. 

The  science  lectures  in  general  are  supplemented  by  prac- 
tical demonstrations  of  the  principles  involved,  though  in  all 
the  class  work  that  I  saw  in  optics,  these  were  restricted  to 
diagrammatic  sketches  put  on  the  board  by  the  teacher.  In 
Sections  C  and  D  this  particular  lack  is  partially  compen- 
sated for  by  the  laboratory  experiments  which  involve  a  few 
of  the  more  fundamental  principles  of  light.  The  effects  of 
the  lecture  room  demonstrations  of  the  teacher  were  partially 
vitiated  by  the  fact  that  the  pupils  were  quite  content  to  take 


284  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

his  statement  of  the  progress  of  the  experiment  and  seemed 
to  evince  little  inclination  to  verify  this  from  their  own  ob- 
servation. As  far  as  my  own  experience  goes,  science  in  the 
French  secondary  schools  is  an  informational  rather  than  an 
observational  study.  In  the  words  of  the  official  instruc- 
tions :  "  The  aim  is  not  to  make  professional  physicists  of  our 
pupils,  but  to  acquaint  them  with  the  great  laws  of  nature 
and  to  put  them  in  position  to  understand  what  is  going  on 
in  the  world  about  them."  l  The  former  is  obviously  the 
dominant  aim,  especially  in  the  so-called  letters  sections. 
The  laboratory  work  in  physics  and  chemistry  in  Sections  C 
and  D  presents  a  slightly  different  phase  of  the  question, 
although  even  here  there  is  no  intention  of  beginning 
the  practical  training  of  independent  investigators.  Since  it 
serves  primarily  to  impress  and  reinforce  the  principles  al- 
ready encountered  in  the  lecture  room,  it  is  rare  for  the 
pupils  to  have  a  problem  even  in  chemistry,  that  has  not 
been  already  worked  out  and  demonstrated  in  the  lecture 
room.  This  probably  accounts  for  the  general  satisfaction 
among  science  teachers  themselves  with  the  time  allotment 
for  experimental  work.  Most  of  them  would  like  more  time 
for  lecture  work,  but  nobody  that  I  met  found  the  laboratory 
exercises  relatively  undervalued. 

The  equipment  for  science  teaching  is  on  the  whole  remark- 
ably complete.     Although  the  amount  of  apparatus  naturally 
varies  from  school  to  school,  I  failed  to  find  a 
Equipment      smgle  school  that  did  not  seem  adequately  sup- 
plied, and  in  several  instances  the  laboratories 
represented  an  expenditure  of   thousands  of  dollars.     The 
magnificent  science  equipment  at  the  College  Eollin  in  Paris, 
a  secondary  school  supported  at  municipal  expense,  is  cer- 
tainly superior  to  that  at  many  an  American  college.     The 
physics  and  chemistry  departments  at  that   school   receive 
3,500  francs  for  annual  expenses  other  than  salaries.     The 
major  part  of  this  being  devoted  to  physics,  the  professor  in 

1  Conseils  gdntraux,  in  Plan  d'dtudes  et  programmes  oVenseignement  dans  les 
lyc6es  et  colleges  de  garcons,  1907-8,  p.  119. 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  285 

charge  of  the  work  has  been  able  to  provide  a  small  but  very 
complete  equipment  for  student  laboratory  work.  In  the 
particular  second  form  that  I  had  the  good  fortune  to  visit, 
there  were  twenty  boys  working  in  pairs.  In  order  to  econo- 
mize expenses  for  sets  of  apparatus,  the  teacher  had  arranged 
his  work  so  that  five  different  experiments,  naturally  bearing 
upon  as  many  phases  of  the  same  general  subject,  should  go 
on  simultaneously.  At  the  end  of  five  weeks,  there  being 
only  one  laboratory  period  per  week,  each  pupil  will  have 
performed  all  the  five  experiments,  and  then  a  new  series  is 
given  out.  This  school  was  particularly  fortunate  in  having 
besides  a  number  of  small  rooms  for  experiments  in  light  and 
other  subjects  where  isolation  is  desirable.  In  nearly  every 
other  school  that  I  saw,  the  pupils  have  to  perform  their  ex- 
periments in  physics  in  the  chemical  laboratory.  The  fact 
that  laboratory  work  in  physics  was  introduced  for  the  first 
time  in  the  program  of  1902,  accounts  for  this  apparent 
partiality  for  chemistry.  Many  of  the  science  teachers  have 
been  able  to  find  among  the  numerous  domestics  attached  to 
their  schools  some  with  a  decidedly  mechanical  turn  of  mind, 
and  they  have  drawn  upon  this  source  of  supply  for  assistance 
in  the  construction  and  repair  of  physics  apparatus.  In  some 
schools  one  such  domestic  devotes  all  his  time  to  this  work. 
Thus  ingenious  and  ambitious  teachers  that  were  not  fortu- 
nate enough  to  be  placed  at  a  College  Eollin  have  been  en- 
abled to  supply  their  laboratories  with  many  sets  of  simple 
and  inexpensive  apparatus,  accurate  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes. 

The  student  chemical  laboratories  with  their  less  expensive 
apparatus  are  better  equipped  than  those  for  teaching  ex- 
perimental   physics.     Many   of  the   chemical     T  .     . 

±  .  J  J  Laboratory 

laboratories  are  really  excellent,  considerably       Work  in 
superior,  in  fact,  to  the  character  of  the  work      Chemistry. 
done  in  them.     No  chemicals  are  ever  kept  at  the  pupils' 
benches.      These   are  all  brought   in   by  a  domestic  from 
the    teacher's  laboratory,   the   apparatus   and    supplies   for 
each  pair  of  pupils  being  on  a  separate  tray.     These  various 


286  F&ENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

outfits  have  all  been  previously  assembled  by  the  laboratory 
assistant  for  each  successive  class.  When  the  pupils  reach 
the  laboratory,  everything  that  they  use  for  the  experiment 
of  the  day  is  on  the  desk  before  them,  and  when  the  hour  is 
over  they  have  simply  to  leave  the  material  where  they 
found  it.  They  thus  have  no  more  responsibility  for  getting 
their  supplies  together  nor  of  clearing  up  their  apparatus  be- 
fore they  leave  than  if  they  were  sitting  down  to  dinner. 
At  the  beginning  of  each  laboratory  period  the  teacher  gives 
careful  directions  for  the  experiment  of  the  day.  The  pupil 
thus  knows  exactly  what  to  do,  when  to  do  it,  how  to  do  it, 
and  generally  what  results  he  should  obtain.  When  this  is 
done  and  the  results  written  in  his  note  book  (with  fair  luck 
the  good  pupils  can  complete  their  work  in  half  or  three 
quarters  of  the  period),  he  can  devote  the  remainder  of  the 
time  to  annoying  his  neighbor.  If  for  any  reason  the  experi- 
ment is  not  finished  by  the  end  of  the  hour,  the  whole  time 
is  practically  lost,  for  there  is  no  provision  for  completing  or 
making  up  the  work.  Indeed  why  should  there  be,  since  the 
experiment  is  merely  confirmatory  of  what  he  already  knows  ? 
The  lack  of  aprons  or  other  special  laboratory  dress,  the  ab- 
sence of  responsibility  put  upon  the  pupils,  the  mere  confirm- 
atory character  of  the  work,  all  tend  to  engender  the  idea 
that  this  is  a  kind  of  playing  at  experimentation,  rather  than 
serious  laboratory  work.  Even  among  some  boys  that  I  saw 
who  were  in  the  middle  of  their  third  year  in  the  laboratory 
(to  be  sure  they  had  spent  only  one  hour  per  week  on 
chemistry),  the  general  lack  of  "  at  homeness  "  in  handling 
apparatus  was  strikingly  apparent. 

Yet  when  all  these  criticisms  have  been  passed  on  the 
formal  nature  of  science  teaching,  the  emphasis  upon 
memory,  the  lack  of  student  responsibility,  the 
mediocrity  of  the  laboratory  work,  this  very 
system  has  produced  results ;  whether  despite  or  on  account 
of  the  system,  scientists  have  nevertheless  been  produced. 
Witness  the  long  line  of  illustrious  names  from  Descartes 
down  to  Pasteur,  a  group  of  men  that  puts  France  second  to 


MATHEMATICS  AND  SCIENCE  287 

no  other  nation,  men  that  have  not  only  vitally  contributed 
to  the  world's  store  of  knowledge  of  fundamental  scientific 
principles,  but  that  have  applied  these  principles  to  the 
expansion  of  the  field  of  human  endeavor,  to  the  alleviation 
of  human  suffering,  and  to  the  elevation  of  the  human  race. 


CHAPTEK  XIII 
OTHER  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION 

Philosophy,  Morale,  Law,  Drawing,  and  Gymnastics 

In  order  to  complete  the  topics  under  the  various  subjects  of 
instruction  in  the  secondary  school  curriculum,  it  will  be 
necessary  to  bring  together  in  this  chapter  a  rather  fragmen- 
tary discussion  of  several  subjects  that  do  not  readily  fall 
under  any  of  the  great  heads  already  treated.  Such  are 
philosophy,  elementary  ethics,  common  law,  gymnastics,  and 
drawing,  all  except  the  last  two  appearing  for  a  very  limited 
time  in  the  course  of  study. 

Philosophy 

Philosophy  was  originally  essentially  a  subject  of  higher 
learning.  The  failure  to  differentiate  clearly  between  higher 
Ph'l  h  an(^  secondary  education  that  characterized 
before  the  French  education  for  centuries,  a  haziness  that 
Revolution.  s^]j  lingers  in  the  frequent  inclusion  of  the 
lyc^es  and  colleges  in  the  university  system  and  that  renders 
the  mutation  from  the  teaching  staff  of  the  lyce'e  to  that  of 
the  university  proper  a  matter  of  no  very  great  difficulty, 
facilitated  the  settling  down  of  philosophy  into  the  curric- 
ulum of  the  secondary  schools,  especially  since  these  very 
schools  assumed  the  function  of  providing  a  complete  liberal 
education.  Philosophy  as  the  crowning  study  of  mediaeval 
scholarship  thus  found  a  sympathetic  welcome  in  the  lower 
institutions  of  learning.  The  philosophy  of  the  Jesuit  col- 
leges, reaching  as  it  did  only  a  comparatively  small  portion 
of  their  students,  for  the  great  majority  of  them  left  at  the 
end  of  the  rhetoric  form,  was  still  further  circumscribed  by 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION  289 

the  extremely  narrow  scope  of  its  field.  Not  only  was  it  re- 
stricted to  Aristotle,  but  it  did  not  include  all  of  that 
author,  and  even  then  placed  interpretation  of  the  words  on 
a  par  with  that  of  the  subject  matter. J  Thus  the  logic  of  the 
first  year  of  the  philosophy  course  and  the  metaphysics  of 
the  third  become  considerably  attenuated  in  the  light  of  the 
accompanying  directions.  Although  Descartes  published  his 
Discours  sur  la  methode  in  1636,  it  was  not  until  after  the 
opening  of  the  eighteenth  century  that  Cartesianism  really 
made  any  appreciable  headway  even  in  the  university  col- 
leges. The  temper  of  the  time  is  reflected  in  the  projected 
reform  of  the  Statutes  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  in  1720,  wherein 
Descartes,  who  a  quarter  of  a  century  before  had  been 
proscribed  in  the  schools,  appears  side  by  side  with  Aristotle 
among  the  classic  texts. 2  Although  Eollin  reproached  him- 
self for  having  studied  philosophy  only  superficially,  he  ac- 
corded it  but  faint  praise  in  recognizing  the  advantages 
accruing  from  its  study  and  in  almost  the  same  breath 
contrasting  the  "  arid,  rough,  and  thorny  region  "  of  philosophy 
with  the  "  gladsome,  gay,  and  flowery  land  of  the  belles- 
lettres,  "  3  a  point  of  view  not  at  all  surprising  when  one  re- 
calls that  Eollin  himself  was  a  rhetorician  rather  than 
a  philosopher.  Philosophy  with  him,  as  heretofore,  included 
not  only  the  whole  round  of  scientific  knowledge  of  the 
learned,  but  even  what  he  was  pleased  to  call  "  physics  for 
children,"  4  an  approach  to  our  nature  study  of  to-day.  In 
the  last  years  of  the  old  regime,  despite  Eousseau's  attempt 
to  differentiate  the  physical  sciences  from  their  foster  parent, 
philosophy  still  included  the  time-honored  four-fold  division 
of  logic,  metaphysics,  ethics,  and  physics.  The  course 
which  extended  over  two  years  and  represented  the  real 


1  Ratio  atque  institutio  studiorum,  ed.  1603,  p.  87. 

2  Reformatio  statutorum  celeberrimae  artium  facultatis  universitatis  studii 
Parisiensis,  caput  III.,  xxii.,  in  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V University  de  Paris, 
Pieces  justificatives,  p.  173. 

8  Rollin,  TraitS  des  ttudes,  III.,  pp.  160,  173. 
4  Ibid.,  p.  204. 

19 


290  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

work  of  the  Faculty  of  Arts  of  the  University 1  continued  to 
be  given  in  Latin. 

With  Napoleon's   organization  of  the  University,  philos- 
ophy became  definitely  attached  to  secondary  instruction, 
p, ...      ,         although  in  those  classes  it  was  treated  in  an 
Subject  of      elementary  fashion  which  by  no  means  tended 
Secondary  in-  ^0   diminish  its   importance   as    a   subiect    of 

struction.  .  r  J 

higher  instruction,  and  the  trend  toward  a 
cleavage  between  philosophy  and  science  that  had  appeared 
in  nearly  every  proposed  program  since  the  beginning  of 
the  Eevolutionary  period  was  recognized  as  an  accomplished 
fact.  Save  for  a  few  months  during  the  year  1821,  and 
again  for  a  brief  period  from  1847  when  special  conditions 
were  made  applicable  to  the  Paris  schools  alone,  the  philos- 
ophy course  has  been  restricted  to  a  single  year,  since  1830 
the  instruction  being  given  exclusively  in  the  mother  tongue. 
Philosophy  has  been  relatively  little  affected  by  the  new 
program  of  1902.  It  still  occupies  eight  hours  a  week  dur- 
ing the  first  semester  and  nine  hours  during  the  second,  thus 
consuming  about  one  third  of  the  student's  time  in  the  phil- 
osophy form.  In  the  mathematics  form,  it  is  relatively 
almost  insignificant,  for  it  is  allotted  only  three  hours  per 
week  throughout  the  year,  apportioned  evenly  between  moral 
philosophy  and  philosophy  as  applied  to  science.  The  fol- 
lowing paragraphs  will  show  something  of  the  scope  of  this 
philosophy  program : 

PHILOSOPHY  AND   PHILOSOPHICAL  AUTHORS 

8  hours,  first  semester;  9  hours,  second  semester.     (Program  com- 
mon to  Sections  A  and  B.) 

I.   Philosophy  2 

Introduction.    Object  and  divisions  of  philosophy. 
Psychology.     Real   characteristics   of   psychological   facts.     Con- 
science. 

1  Eolland,  Plan  d' Education,  p.  114. 

2  The  accompanying  order  imposes  no  restrictions  upon  the  teacher.     It  is 
sufficient  that  he  treat  all  the  questions  indicated. 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION 

Intellectual  Life.    The  phenomena  of  consciousness.    Sensa 
Images.     Memory  and  association.     Attention  and  reflection.     For- 
mation of  abstract  and  general  notions.     Judgment 
and  reasoning.    Creative  activity  of  the  mind.    Rela-      ™Win 
tion  of  language  and  thought.    Development  and  role         e  pj^0^  ^ 
of    rational    principles.      Formation   of  the  idea    of 
extension.    Perception  of  the  external  world. 

Emotional  and  Impulsive  Life.  Pleasure  and  pain.  Emotions  and 
passions.  Sympathy  and  imitation.  Tendencies.  Instincts.  Habit. 
The  will  and  the  character.    Freedom. 

Conclusion.  Mind  and  body.  Psychic  automatism.  Personality; 
idea  of  self. 

^Esthetics.    Summary  notions  of  beauty  and  art. 

Logic.  Formal  Logic.  Terms.  Proposition.  Forms  of  -reasoning. 
Science.  Classification  and  hierarchy  of  the  sciences.  Method  of 
Mathematical  Science.  Definitions,  axioms,  and  postulates.  Dem- 
onstration. Method  of  Natural  Science.  Experiment;  observation 
and  experimentation.  Hypothesis ;  theories.  Induction  and  deduction 
in  natural  science.  Classification.  Method  of  Moral  and  Social 
Science.    Processes  of  psychology.     History  and  social  science. 

Ethics.1  Object  and  character  of  ethics.  The  phenomena  of  moral 
consciousness;  obligation  and  sanction.  Motives  of  conduct  and  the 
end  of  human  life.  Pleasure,  feeling,  reason.  Personal  and  general  in- 
terest. Duty  and  happiness.  Individual  perfection  and  the  progress  of 
humanity.  Personal  Ethics.  Feeling  of  responsibility.  Virtue  and 
vice.  Personal  dignity  and  moral  autonomy.  Domestic  Ethics.  Ethi- 
cal constitution  and  social  role  of  the  family.  Authority  in  the  family. 
Social  Ethics.  Equity.  Justice  and  charity.  Co-operation.  Rights; 
respect  of  life  and  personal  liberty;  property  and  labor;  freedom  of 
thought.  Civic  and  Political  Ethics.  The  nation  and  the  law.  The 
country.  The  State  and  its  functions.  Democracy;  civil  and  political 
liberty. 

Metaphysics.  Value  and  limits  of  knowledge.  Problems  of  early 
philosophy;  matter;  the  soul;  God.  Relations  of  metaphysics  to 
science  and  ethics. 

II.   Philosophical  Authors2 

Xenophon,  Memorabilia,  one  book. 

Plato,  Phcedo,  Gorgias,  one  book  of  the  Republic. 

Aristotle,  one  book  of  the  Nicomachean  ethics,  and  one  of  the  Politics. 

1  In  the  treatment  of  personal  as  well  as  social  ethics,  the  teacher  will 
emphasize  the  danger  of  alcoholism  and  its  moral  and  social  effects  :  moral 
degradation,  race  weakness,  misery,  suicide,  criminality. 

2  The  teacher  will  choose  four  texts  from  this  list.  These  will  be  discussed 
in  class  and  will  serve  as  a  basis  for  expounding  the  systems  of  philosophy 
which  they  represent. 


292  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Epictetus,  Manual. 

Marcus  Aurelius. 

Lucretius,  De  natura  rerum,  Book  II.  or  V. 

Seneca,  Extracts  from  the  Letters  to  Lucilius  and  the  Essays. 

Cicero,  De  offlciis. 

Bacon,  On  the  advancement  of  learning. 

Descartes,  Discourse  on  method;  Meditations ;  Principles,  Book  I. 

Pascal,  Thoughts,  and  minor  works. 

Malebranche,  On  the  search  for  the  truth,  Book  I.  or  II.  Talks  on 
metaphysics. 

Spinoza,  Ethics,  one  book. 

Leibnitz,  New  essays,  introduction  and  Book  I.  Theodicy,  extracts. 
Monadology.    Discourse  on  metaphysics. 

Hume,  Treatise  of  human  nature,  one  book. 

Condillac,  The  sensations,  Book  I. 

Montesquieu,  Spirit  of  the  laws,  Book  I. 

Rousseau,  Social  contract,  one  book. 

Kant,  Foundations  of  the  metaphysics  of  ethics.    Prolegomena. 

Jouffroy,  Extracts. 

A.  Comte,  Course  of  positive  philosophy,  lectures  I  and  II.  Discourse 
on  positivism. 

CI.  Bernard,  Introduction  to  the  study  of  experimental  medicine,  part  I. 

Stuart  Mill,  Logic,  Book  VI.     Utilitarianism.    Liberty. 

Spencer,  First  principles,  part  I.     Introduction  to  sociology. 

Locke,  Essay  on  the  human  understanding,  Book  I. 

Cournot,  Materialism.    Vitalism.    Rationalism. 

The  course  in  the  two  sections  of  the  mathematics  form, 

three  hours  per  week,  is   divided   into   two   parts   entitled 

respectively  Elements  of  scientific  philosophy 

in  the         an(l  Elements  of  moral  philosophy.     With  the 

Mathematics    exception    of    an   introductory   paragraph    for 

each  they  are  identical  with  the  work  under 

Logic  and  Ethics  of  the  philosophy  form. 

It  is  the  presence  of  this  philosophy  instruction  that  most 
strikingly   differentiates   the   curriculum   of  the   secondary 

PhilosoDh  schools  in  France  from  those  of  the  other  great 
in  the        nations.     It  owes  its  introduction  primarily  to 

Curriculum.  ^  aDSence  of  any  clearly  denned  rift  be- 
tween the  fields  of  secondary  and  higher  learning.  It  owes 
its  continuance  in  large  measure  to  the  peculiar  function 
the  secondary  school  performs  in  the  intellectual  life  of  the 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  293 

country,  namely,  that  of  providing  not  an  introduction  to,  or 
preparation  for,  liberal  culture,  but  that  of  supplying  that 
liberal  culture  itself.  The  Polytechnic  School,  the  Military 
School  at  Saint-Cyr,  the  Higher  Normal  School,  the  medical 
schools,  the  law  schools,  —  none  of  these  can  be  considered 
as  schools  of  general  culture;  they  are  essentially  profes- 
sional schools.  It  is  even  reasonably  certain  that  many  of 
the  students  of  the  arts  and  the  science  faculties  are  fol- 
lowing purely  *  professional  courses.  Of  the  thirty-four 
thousand  native  men  students  enrolled  under  the  various 
faculties  and  in  the  other  medical  and  pharmaceutical 
schools  on  January  15,  1908,  only  nine  thousand,  or  slightly 
more  than  a  quarter,  were  found  in  the  arts  and  the  science 
faculties,1  and  when  account  is  taken  of  the  students  in 
the  professional  engineering  schools  of  various  sorts,  this 
proportion  is  relatively  decreased.  In  other  words,  for  more 
than  three  quarters  of  its  pupils,  the  lyc£e  provides  the  only 
liberal  culture.  There  are  no  official  figures  available  for 
determining  this  proportion  accurately,  but  it  is  certainly 
not  an  overstatement  of  the  case,  for  it  has  made  no  allow- 
ance for  the  number  of  young  men  who  quit  school  entirely 
on  obtaining  their  bachelor's  degree.  With  this  view  of  the 
role  played  by  the  •  secondary  school  in  the  educational 
scheme,  the  presence  of  philosophy  in  its  curriculum  is 
amply  justified.  Absorbing  as  it  does  in  the  philosophy 
form  a  great  part  of  the  time  and  the  thought  of  the  stu- 
dent, it  has  an  opportunity  to  unify,  to  synthesize  in  his 
mind,  the  instruction  of  the  previous  years.  Whether  or  not 
it  embraces  this  opportunity  is  largely  dependent  on  the 
teacher.  I  have  seen  some  very  good  teaching,  and  I  have 
seen  some  very  bad  teaching,  that  is,  from  the  pupils'  point 
of  view.  In  other  words,  some  teachers  treated  the  sub- 
jects in  a  most  abstract  fashion,  apparently  unmindful  of 
the  difference  in  intellectual  power  between  themselves 
and  their  pupils.  In  such  classes,  a  small  number  would 
grasp  the  significance  of  the  discussion,  a  few  more  would 

1  Bull,  adm.,  1908,  I.,  p.  423. 


294  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

strive  with  evident  effort  to  follow,  while  the  great  ma- 
jority would  sit  quietly  by,  nonchalantly  awaiting  the  sum- 
mary of  the  discussion  which  they  could  memorize  for 
next  time.  On  the  other  hand,  I  came  across  other  teachers 
that,  by  aptness  of  illustration,  by  the  practical  application 
to  the  affairs  of  every-day  life,  succeeded  in  arousing  an 
eagerness  and  interest  in  discussion  that  augured  well  for 
the  general  grasp  on  the  subject. 

As  the  detailed  program  will  show,  the  psychology  is 
entirely  of  the  older  static  or  analytical  type,  experimental 
psychology,  except  so  far  as  it  may  be  touched 
in  the  upon  in  the  lectures  of  the  teachers,  having  no 
Philosophy  place  in  the  course.  It  seems  to  be  the  gen- 
eral feeling  that  the  whole  field  must  be  fairly 
well  in  hand  before  any  experimentation  is  feasible.  One 
seldom  finds  a  text-book  in  the  hands  of  the  pupils,  and 
then  it  is  used  only  as  a  reference  book.  The  following 
questions  that  formed  the  review  work  in  one  class  I  visited 
will  convey  some  notion  of  the  sequence  of  topics  and  the 
general  method  of  questioning:  (1)  "Discuss  perception." 
The  first  boy  called  upon  had  evidently  done  nothing  more 
than  memorize  the  analytical  summary  given  at  the  end  of 
the  last  hour.  He  recited  very  glibly  the  schematic  outline 
with  its  divisions  into  the  physical,  physiological,  and  men- 
tal aspects,  but  that  represented  the  extent  of  his  knowledge. 
The  next  boy  called  up  had  a  good  grasp  of  the  subject  and 
gave  a  very  creditable  recitation.  (2)  "  Explain  Fechner's 
law."  (3)  "  Discuss  the  threshold  of  sensation."  (4)  "Ana- 
lyze the  sensations."  The  influence  of  the  memory  was 
again  strikingly  apparent  in  response  to  the  third  question 
above,  for  the  numerical  measures  of  the  threshold  of  sensa- 
tion for  touch  on  the  tongue,  the  fore  finger,  and  the  back 
were  strongly  emphasized.  It  was  the  1  mm.,  the  2  mm.,  and 
the  69  mm.,  rather  than  the  significance  of  these  differences 
that  seemed  to  have  made  the  deepest  impression  on  the  pu- 
pil's mind.  Although  only  five  boys  were  called  upon,  this 
review  of  the  lecture  of  the  previous  day  consumed  nearly 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  295 

forty  minutes  of  the  first  hour.  It  was  essentially  almost  a 
personal  matter  between  the  teacher  and  the  pupil  reciting, 
for  the  others  were  chiefly  occupied  in  reading  over  their 
own  notes,  and  the  first  boy  that  had  failed  so  signally  set 
about  preparing  a  lesson  in  some  other  subject.  At  this 
point,  the  topic  for  the  written  paper  to  be  handed  in  five 
days  later,  "  The  psychology  of  desire,"  was  assigned,  and 
with  the  careful  preparation  that  characterizes  all  French 
instruction,  the  teacher  threw  out  numerous  helpful  sugges- 
tions for  the  proper  handling  of  the  subject.  A  process  of  this 
sort  not  only  reduces  to  a  minimum  the  chance  of  getting  a 
worthless  paper,  but  it  saves  the  average  pupil  much  profit- 
less groping  about  for  a  method  of  attack  and  thus  repre- 
sents the  highest  type  of  teaching.  The  remainder  of  the 
first  hour,  and,  after  a  five-minute  intermission,  the  whole 
of  the  second  hour  were  given  up  to  a  further  consideration 
of  perception  and  its  relation  to  sensation.  The  teacher  was 
an  unusually  clear  lecturer  and  he  stirred  up  a  lively  dis- 
cussion, unfortunately  confined  to  only  three  or  four  out  of 
the  fifty  boys  in  the  class,  when  he  broached  the  subject  of 
the  dreaming  and  the  waking  life. 

In  view  of  the  extreme  freedom  granted  the  teachers  of 
philosophy,  it  is  rather  presumptuous  to  attempt  to  give  any 
standard  arrangement  of  the  work.  Here  is  a  scheme  that 
is  followed  by  one  of  the  teachers  in  a  Paris  lyc6e,  which  is 
fairly  representative  of  what  one  would  find  in  the  better 
schools :  October,  general  introduction  to  the  philosophy 
course  ;  November,  December,  and  January,  psychology ; 
February  and  the  first  half  of  March,  logic ;  from  the  middle 
of  March  to  the  middle  of  April,  metaphysics ;  May  and 
June,  ethics.  This  covers  four  periods  of  two  hours  each 
per  week,  three  of  them  being  devoted  to  lectures  and  recita- 
tions, and  the  fourth  to  correction  and  discussion  of  the 
written  papers.  During  the  second  half  year,  there  is  an 
additional  hour  per  week  devoted  to  an  exposition  and  dis- 
cussion of  the  philosophic  authors  of  the  program.  There 
is  no  attempt  to  give  any  connected  history  of  philosophy,  but 


296  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

merely  to  interpret  the  particular  philosophical  doctrines  of 
the  authors  in  question.  The  teacher  contrived  to  set  apart 
an  additional  half  hour  per  week  during  the  first  half  year 
for  this  same  purpose.  Descarte's  Discourse  on  method  is 
always  taken  up  by  this  particular  teacher  during  the  first 
semester,  the  authors  of  the  second  semester  varying  from 
year  to  year.  This  year  the  others  were  Comte,  Montesquieu, 
and  Aristotle. 

The  philosophy  course  in  the  mathematics  form  is  consid- 
erably more  limited  in  scope  having  only  three  hours  per 

.    „, ..     week  as  opposed  to  eight  and  a  half  in  the  let- 
Class  in  Phil-  ..  TT  it  -.1 

osophy.  Math-  ters  sections.  Here  psychology  and  the  phil- 
ematies  Form,  osophical  doctrines  are  omitted,  the  time  being 
shared  by  logic  and  ethics,  the  former  with  particular  refer- 
ence to  its  bearing  on  the  special  scientific  work  the  pupils 
are  doing.  In  one  class  that  I  visited,  the  subject  was  "  The 
philosophical  basis  of  biology,"  the  teacher  showing  the  ev- 
olution of  the  present  day  biology  from  the  old  natural  his- 
tory, and  bringing  out  clearly  the  advances  in  modern 
method.  The  class  was  extremely  wide-awake,  the  exercise 
at  times  assuming  the  form  of  an  open  discussion  rather 
than  a  lecture.  In  touching  upon  the  general  biological 
theory  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  hour,  the  controversy 
became  more  animated,  one  pupil  rather  insisting  upon  an 
answer  to  his  question  as  to  whether  an  evolutionist  was  a 
"  believer "  or  not.  The  teacher  avoided  a  direct  reply  for 
some  time  with  many  protestations  that  he  was  not  compe- 
tent to  answer  the  question  categorically,  but  finally  said  he 
saw  no  reason  why  the  two  positions  need  be  at  variance.  In 
response  to  my  mild  expression  of  surprise  after  the  class  at 
the  quasi-theological  aspect  the  discussion  had  assumed, 
especially  in  view  of  the  somewhat  delicate  state  of  the 
religious  question  in  France  at  the  moment,  he  replied  that 
the  French  students  were  particularly  fond  of  turning  these 
discussions  either  toward  religion  or  politics,  and  so  long  as 
they  did  not  touch  upon  dangerous  ground  he  for  one  saw 
no  harm  in  it. 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  297 

There  seems  to  be  a  growing  dissatisfaction  among  the 
philosophy  teachers  themselves  with  the  character  of  the 
work  in  the  letters  sections.  The  feeling  is 
more  or  less  wide-spread  that  the  pupils  are  philosophy, 
approaching  the  problems  in  a  less  truly  philo- 
sophical spirit,  that  they  are  too  willing  to  accept  unques- 
tioningly  the  dictum  of  the  teacher,  an  attitude  that  betokens 
a  decreased  interest  in  the  subject  itself.  Agreement  as  to 
the  facts  has  nevertheless  brought  no  unanimity  as  to  the 
fundamental  causes.  The  new  program  cannot  be  held 
entirely  responsible  for  all  this  changed  attitude,  for  the 
trend  was  already  well  marked  before  the  change  became 
effective.  It  is  probably  a  contributory  cause,  however,  with 
the  real  reason  lying  deep  down  in  that  utilitarian  tendency 
that  thrusts  aside  speculative,  philosophical  thought  for  the 
more  alluring  practical  pursuits.  It  is  worthy  of  note  in 
passing  that  coincident  with  this  decadence  of  the  phil- 
osophical spirit  in  the  letters  section,  the  former  apathy 
toward  philosophy  in  the  scientific  section  has  been  corre- 
spondingly modified.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  nevertheless, 
that  there  much  of  the  philosophy  is  very  closely  related  to 
the  science  work  of  that  course. 

In  appreciating  the  philosophy  instruction  in  the  second- 
ary schools,  one  must  keep  in  mind  the  spirit  and  purpose 
underlying   it   all.        The   psychology   is   not 
taught     to    make    psychologists;     the    logic,     A££u°rfSehe 
logicians ;    the   ethics,   moralists ;    the    meta- 
physics,  metaphysicians;  the  philosophical  doctrines,  phil- 
osophers ;  but  rather  with  the  hope  of  giving  these  young 
men  toward  the  end  of  their  liberal  education  some  notion 
of  what  philosophy  really  means,  a  notion  that  shall  serve 
as  a  fitting  introduction  to  the  later  consideration  of  the 
subject  if  they   pursue   their   studies   further   in   the   arts 
faculty  of  the  university,  or  if  they  enter  upon  their  pro- 
fessional training  or  go  directly  into  the  world  of  affairs, 
that  shall  send  them  into  life  with  an  insight  at  least  into 
some  of  the  intellectual  problems  that  have  held  the  atten- 


298  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

tion  of  thoughtful  men  ever  since  the  race  began,  all  the 
time  considering  the  philosophy  not  as  a  special  science,  but 
as  an  element  of  and  a  means  toward  general  culture. 

Morale 

A  subject  that  is  very  closely  allied  to  the  philosophy 
instruction  of  the  first  year  is  the  morale  of  the  fourth  and 
third  forms,  to  which  the  application  of  the  English  term 
"  ethics "  would  be  a  little  misleading,  but  which  is  really 
nothing  less  than  an  elementary  treatment  of  that  subject 
adapted  to  the  comprehension  of  lads  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
years  of  age.  It  is  placed  thus  in  the  last  two  years  of  the 
first  cycle  with  the  avowed  intention  of  fulfilling  a  purpose 
partially  similar  to  that  of  the  philosophy  at  the  end  of  the 
course,  in  order  to  show  those  pupils  that  may  leave  the 
lyc^e  at  that  point  some  of  the  responsibilities  devolving 
upon  them  as  members  of  present  day  society,  and  to  give 
them  some  formal,  definite  standards  of  conduct  which  shall 
govern  their  further  attitude  toward  themselves,  toward 
their  fellow  men,  and  toward  the  State. 

The  detailed  program  given  below,  which  is  required  of 
all  pupils  in  the  fourth  and  third  forms,  will  show  the  topics 
discussed : 

FOURTH  FORM 

Morale,  1  hour.  Lectures,  recitations,  systematic  conversations  suit- 
able alike  for  strengthening  the  feelings  favorable  to  the  moral  develop- 
ment and  for  overcoming  the  contrary  tendencies. 

Sincerity.  Frankness  and  the  spirit  of  deceit.  Truth  and  falsehood. 
Being  and  seeming.  Hypocrisy.  Courage.  Bravery  and  cowardice. 
Vigor  and  laziness.  Perseverance  and  fickleness.  Courage  against 
suffering,  against  pleasure,  to  resist  opinion  for  conscience's  sake,  to 
recognize  one's  faults,  to  confess.  Moral  weakness.  Moral  delicacy. 
Disgust  at  vulgar  pleasures.  Uprightness.  Stealing,  fraud,  injustice. 
Keeping  one's  word.  Uprightness  of  the  school  boy.  Goodness.  Af- 
fection for  parents,  brothers.  Comradeship.  Friendship.  Politeness. 
Pity  and  cruelty.  Generosity.  Kindness  toward  animals.  Education 
of  Self.  Feeling  of  moral  dignity  as  opposed  to  dishonor.  Self-control. 
Strength  of  character  and  disinterestedness.  Authority  of  conscience  and 
respect  for  law.    The  upright  man. 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  299 


THIRD   FORM 

Morale,  1  hour.  Lectures,  recitations,  systematic  conversations 
adapted  to  enable  the  pupils  to  understand  the  value  of  human  and 
social  aims. 

Solidarity.  Action  and  reaction  of  individuals  upon  each  other. 
Individual's  debt  to  society;  influence  of  his  actions  upon  his  social  en- 
vironment. Duties  resulting  from  solidarity.  Obligation  created  by  the 
instruction  one  has  received.  Justice  and  Fraternity.  Rights  of  the 
individual.  Freedom  of  thought;  tolerance.  Relief  (of  the  poor).  The 
Family,  its  social  and  moral  role.  Vocation.  Moral  and  social  obliga- 
tion of  work.  Vocational  activity  as  a  social  function.  Vocational  up- 
rightness. Spirit  of  initiative,  of  association.  The  Nation.  Idea  of 
country.  Inculcation  of  patriotism;  love  of  country  as  a  vocational 
duty.  The  State  and  the  Laws.  Legality.  Functions  of  the  State. 
Democracy  and  the  principles  of  1789.  Humanity.  International  re- 
lations, justice.  Civilization.  Individual  Liberty  and  Social  Dis- 
cipline.    The  good  citizen. 

As  to  whether  or  not  this  instruction  attains  the  desired 
end  there  is  no  unanimity  of  opinion.  Time  alone  can 
answer,  and  long  before  the  reply  is  ready, 
countless  other  forces  play  upon  the  individual 
and  so  complicate  the  problem  that  no  answer  is  ever  re- 
turned. At  all  events,  one  is  inclined  to  be  sceptical  of  the 
success  of  any  attempt  to  inculcate  by  a  direct  method  feel- 
ings which  must  be  worked  out  in  action,  like  truth,  courage, 
perseverance,  integrity,  politeness.  The  fact  that  a  specific 
period  of  one  hour  per  week  is  set  apart  for  such  a  series  of 
lessons  would  seem  likely  to  militate  against  the  very  pur- 
pose for  which  it  is  given,  namely,  that  the  mind  shall 
become  so  permeated  with  these  higher  feelings  that  all 
those  tendencies  of  a  baser  sort  will  forever  be  inhibited. 
The  conviction  expressed  by  M.  Croiset,  the  distinguished 
Dean  of  the  Faculty  of  Letters  of  the  Sorbonne,  that  "the 
best  lesson  is  perhaps  that  which  occupies  no  fixed  time  in 
the  school  program,  but  which  comes  forth  spontaneously, 
naively  from  the  very  personality  of  the  teacher  and  from  all 
his  words  "  has  not  yet  found  general  acceptance.  Contrast 
with  this  the  feeling  expressed  by  one  of  the  head  masters 
who  would  have  morale  in  the  program  if  only  for  policy's 


300  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

sake:  "If  this  instruction  does  not  figure  in  the  program 
under  a  special  rubric,  it  is  strongly  to  be  feared  that  many 
families  and  a  great  number  of  the  pupils  would  believe  in 
good  faith  that  it  was  not  found  in  the  lyc^es."1 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  subject  occupies  a  place  in  the 
curriculum  in  response  to  a  general  feeling  that  some  pro- 
vision must  be  made  for  accomplishing  the  work  formerly 
attributed  to  the  religious  instruction.  Since  the  complete 
laicization  of  public  instruction  in  the  early  eighties,  all  the 
religious  training  in  the  lyce'es  has  been  optional,  the  govern- 
ment continuing  to  maintain  the  chaplains  there  just  as 
before.  The  recent  dissolution  of  the  Concordat,  however, 
is  just  now  beginning  to  have  its  effect  in  the  lyc£es,  and  the 
positions  of  those  resident  priests  are  being  suppressed;  so 
that  not  long  hence  they  will  have  all  disappeared,  and  the 
Catholic  clergy  will  then  come  in  from  outside  the  schools, 
just  as  their  Protestant  and  Jewish  brothers  have  long  been 
compelled  to  do,  in  order  to  give  religious  instruction  to  the 
boys  of  their  faith.  In  the  meantime  this  "  moral "  instruc- 
tion, imposed  upon  all,  sets  before  itself  the  peculiarly  diffi- 
cult task  of  establishing  for  boys  of  thirteen  or  fourteen 
years  of  age  a  certain  standard  of  ethical  principles  that 
shall  serve  as  the  basis  of  conduct  throughout  the  rest  of 
their  lives. 

Common  Law 

The  common  law  which  receives  one  hour  per  week  in  the 
third  form  Division  B  is  another  subject,  introduced  for  the 
purpose  of  orientating  the  pupils  that  leave  at  the  end  of 
the  first  cycle  with  respect  to  some  of  the  fundamental  legal 
principles  upon  which  the  national  life  is  based.  These  are 
treated  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  individual's  rights  and 
responsibilities  with  respect  to  the  State  and  with  respect  to 
the  family.  The  accompanying  program  is  sufficiently 
explicit  to  show  the  general  method  of  handling,  so  that  no 
further  comment  is  necessary  : 

1  Quoted  in  Darbon,  L ' enseignement  de  la  morale  au  lyc6e}  in  Revue  uni- 
versitaire,  1907,  II.,  p.  12. 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  301 

Introduction.  Law.  Custom  and  law.  Relation  between  ethics  and 
law.  Public  law :  constitutional,  administrative,  criminal,  international. 
Private  law :  civil,  international,  commercial,  civil  procedure.    Codes. 

I.  PUBLIC  law- 
Rights  op  a  French  Citizen.  Civil  liberty.  Individual  liberty  of 
conscience,  of  religious  belief.  Liberty  of  work,  of  trade,  and  of  manu- 
factures. Liberty  of  meeting  and  of  association.  Liberty  of  the  press. 
Voting  taxes.  Military  service.  National  Sovereignty  and  Uni- 
versal Suffrage.  Constitutional  laws  of  1875,  revision  of  1884. 
Public  powers :  legislative,  executive ;  why  and  how  separated.  Leg- 
islative: senate  and  deputies.  Executive:  President,  ministers,  par- 
liamentary government.  Administrative  Organization.  Division  of 
France.  Department :  prefect  and  general  council,  departmental  com- 
mission. Arrondissement :  sub-prefect  and  arrondissement  council. 
Commune:  mayor  and  municipal  council.  Judicial  Organization. 
Publicity  and  gratuitousness  of  justice.  Jurisdiction  in  civil  and  com- 
mercial cases:  (1)  justice  of  the  peace;  (2)  courts  of  first  instance;  (3) 
court  of  appeal ;  (4)  courts  of  business ;  (5)  trade  councils ;  (6)  supreme 
court  of  cassation.  Ministry.  Officers  of  justice:  barristers,  attorneys, 
notaries.  Summary  notions  of  administrative  jurisdictions :  prefectoral 
councils,  council  of  State.  The  audit  office.  General  Principles  of 
Criminal  Law.  Infractions  and  penalties.  Charge  and  guilt ;  attend- 
ant circumstances.  Courts  of  repression :  preliminary  examination  at 
examining  jurisdiction;  courts  of  punishment:  police  courts;  assize 
courts ;  court  of  cassation. 

II.   CIVIL  LAW 

Individual  and  the  Family.  (1)  Nationality;  citizenship.  (2) 
Constitution  of  the  family:  marriage.  Blood  and  marriage  relation- 
ship. Family  rights  and  duties:  parental  and  marital  authority.  (3) 
Protection  of  incompetence:  minors,  insane,  spendthrifts,  and  weak- 
minded.  (4)  Establishment  of  the  principal  facts  of  civil  life;  legal 
papers.1  Possessions.  (1)  Property,  how  acquired.  Inviolability  (dis- 
possession for  public  purposes).  Principal  divisions :  usufruct,  charges 
against  the  property.  Copyrights  and  patents.  (2)  Laws  of  credit; 
different  kinds  of  obligations.  Incomes.  Private  incomes;  sources  of 
obligations;  contracts  and  defaults.  Summary  explanations  of  the 
most  common  contracts  (sale,  lease,  transportation,  business).  Proof 
of  contracts.  Privately  executed  deeds.  Creditors'  rights.  Negotiable 
securities.  (3)  Means  of  obtaining  credit;  secured  debt,  mortgage, 
commercial  paper.  Inheritance.  (1)  Interstate  inheritance.  Classes 
of  heirs.  Share  disposable  and  reserved ;  equality  of  distribution.  Ob- 
ligations of  the  heirs:  inventory  fee.  (2)  Testamentary  inheritance. 
Forms  of  wills;   varieties  of  legacies. 

1  Birth,  marriage,  and  death  certificates. 


302  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

•  Drawing 

Drawing  is  one  of  the  most  extended  of  all  the  courses  in 
the  French  secondary  school  program,  commencing  in  the 
infant  class  and  continuing  until  the  very  end.  The  fact 
that  it  is  optional  in  the  letters  sections  of  the  first  and 
philosophy  forms  subordinates  it  slightly  to  French,  history, 
geography,  mathematics,  and  science,  but  in  the  science 
sections  it  is  second  to  none,  surpassing  there  even  the 
mother  tongue,  for  in  the  final  year  of  the  course  that  disap- 
pears entirely  as  a  separate  subject  of  instruction.  To  be 
sure  the  drawing  never  occupies  a  very  large  share  of  the 
time,  in  the  letters  sections  never  more  than  two  hours  per 
week,  but  its  constant  presence  suggests  the  importance  of 
the  role  played  by  the  aesthetic  in  the  French  philosophy  of 
education,  a  phase  of  general  culture  alas !  too  universally 
neglected  in  our  American  courses  of  study.  Artistic  feeling 
and  appreciation  are  too  subtle  to  be  evaluated.  We  have 
no  definite  unit  in  terms  of  which  we  can  even  approximate 
their  worth.  They  certainly  have  no  direct  commercial 
value,  at  least  for  the  great  majority,  and  the  average  Ameri- 
can school  board  is  too  much  engrossed  in  the  tangible 
results  to  afford  more  than  grudging  support  to  the  fine  arts. 
Small  wonder,  then,  that  France  far  surpasses  us  in  the 
wide-spread  appreciation  of  and  love  for  the  beautiful.  The 
place  given  to  drawing  in  the  public  schools  is  one  very 
potent  factor  in  the  creation  and  development  of  this  artistic 
spirit.  However  much  one  may  object  to  the  formal  char- 
acter of  the  course,  it  certainly  accomplishes  results  that  are 
strikingly  apparent  not  only  in  the  superior  excellence  of  the 
drawing  itself,  but  that  reach  over  into  the  mathematics  and 
science  note  books  of  the  school  course  and  even  stretch  out 
into  the  life  beyond.  Here,  also,  the  French  artists  receive 
their  preliminary  training,  and  the  suggestive  and  selective 
function  of  this  elementary  art  work  cannot  be  overestimated. 

The  following  program  will  show  the  development  of 
the  course  with  its  extremely  logical  organization  of  subject- 
matter  : 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF  INSTRUCTION  303 

Infant  Class.  Line  combinations.  Elementary  exercises  on  co-ordi- 
nate paper,  including  also  drawing  from  memory  and  from  dictation. 

First  Preparatory  Form  through  the  Seventh  Form,  1  hour  per 
week.  I.  Sketching  and  division  of  straight  lines  into  equal  parts. 
Evaluation  of  the  comparative  relations  between  straight  lines.  II.  Re- 
production and  evaluation  of  angles.  III.  Elementary  principles  of 
decorative  drawing.  Circumferences.  Regular  polygons.  Star  shaped 
rosettes.  IV.  Regular  curves  other  than  the  circumference.  Elliptical 
curves,  spirals.  Curves  taken  from  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Stalks, 
leaves,  flowers.  V.  First  notions  of  the  representation  of  objects  in 
their  real  dimensions  (elements  of  geometrical  drawing),  and  in  their 
apparent  form  (elements  of  perspective).  Besides  this,  exercises  in  free- 
hand drawing,  drawing  from  memory,  and  from  dictation. 

Sixth  and  Fifth  Form,  2  hours  per  week.  I.  Geometrical  drawing 
in  outline  and  perspective  drawing  with  light  and  shade,  of  geometrical 
solids  and  simple  common  objects.  II.  Drawing  from  ornaments  in 
relief,1  non-living  forms,  such  as:  mouldings,  egg  shaped  and  heart- 
shaped  ornaments,  pearls,  denticles,  etc.  III.  Drawing  from  ornaments 
in  bas-relief,  living  forms,  such  as :  ornamental  leaves  and  flowers,  palm 
leaves,  foliage,  etc.  IV.  Drawing  from  architectural  fragments,  such  as : 
dadoes,  pedestals,  bases  and  shafts  of  columns,  door  facings,  cornices, 
etc.  V.  Drawing  of  the  human  head.  Elementary  notions  of  its  gen- 
eral structure  and  the  proportion  of  the  different  parts. 

In  the  course  of  the  sixth,  fifth,  and  fourth  forms,  some 
lessons  are  set  apart  for  architectural  drawing  with  the  aid 
of  ruler  and  compass. 

Fourth  Form,  2  hours  per  week.  I.  Drawing  from  architectural 
fragments,  such  as:  capitals,  masks,  claws,  griffins,  theatrical  masks. 
Vases,  decorative  animal  heads.  II.  Drawing  of  the  whole  and  of  the 
proportions  of  the  human  figure  from  engravings  and  from  bas-reliefs. 
III.  Study  and  drawing  of  parts  of  the  human  body.  Elementary  no- 
tions of  anatomy.  The  extremities  and  details  of  the  human  figure  from 
engravings  and  from  plaster  models. 

Except  for  the  simple  mechanical  drawing  which  has  been 
given  one  hour  per  week  to  the  Division  B  classes  of  the 
fifth  and  fourth  forms  by  the  mathematics  teachers,  and  the 
loss  of  one  hour  per  week  for  those  that  begin  Greek  in  the 

1  These  subjects  are  all  taken  from  classic  models  chiefly  from  Greek  and 
Roman  art  and  architecture.  The  human  figures  used  in  later  work  include 
the  well  known  colossal  head  of  Juno,  the  masks  of  Dante,  Mazarin,  Francis  I., 
and  Napoleon,  and  the  statues  of  the  Venus  de  Milo,  the  discus  thrower,  and 
Michael  Angelo's  slave.  Thus  the  course  lays  under  tribute  the  finest  masters 
of  ancient  and  modern  sculpture. 


304  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

fourth  form,  the  drawing  has  all  been  the  same  up  to  this 
point.     From  now  on  the  two  groups  of  pupils  begin  to  sep- 
arate somewhat  as  the  emphasis  upon  mechan- 
the^Courses.     "^  drawing  in  the  science  sections  becomes 

more  and  more  pronounced. 
The   free-hand   drawing   program,   two   hours   per   week, 
identical  for  all  the  sections  of  the  third  and  second  forms, 
is  as  follows: 

I.  Drawing     from     architectural     fragments.     Decorative    figures. 

Caryatides.     Vases   ornamented   with    figures.      Ornamental    friezes. 

Third  and       Ensemble  and  details  of   the  Doric,  Ionic,  and   Corin- 

Second  Forms,  thian  orders.     II.    Drawing  of  the  human  figure  and 

Free-hand       of  animals  from  engravings  and  especially  from  high 

Drawing.        relief  models. 

In  addition  to  the  free-hand  drawing,  the  scientific  stu- 
dents  from   the   third   form  up  have  mechanical  drawing 

quite  distinct  from  that  of  the  mathematics 
^wTn™1     classes  of  the  lower  forms.     The  program  is  as 

follows : 

THIRD  FORM 

Division  B 

Mechanical  Drawing,  1  hour.  Theory  of  shades  and  shadows, 
with  wash-drawings  of  the  simpler  bodies,  surfaces  of  revolution,  and 
machines.  Details  of  the  simpler  machines.  Elevation  of  the  same, 
and  their  geometrical  representation  to  scale.  Some  of  these  draw- 
ings will  be  washed. 

SECOND  FORM 

Mechanical  Drawing,  2  hours.  •  (Programs  common  to  Sections  C 
and  D.)  Use  of  instruments  for  drawing  straight  lines  and  circles  (ruler, 
compass,  square,  protractor).  Instrumental  drawing  of  constructions 
explained  in  the  geometry.  Geometrical  designs:  tiling,  parquetry, 
mosaic  flooring.  Use  of  India  ink  and  water  colors  for  some  of  these 
drawings.     Free-hand  elevation  drawings  of  common  objects.1 

1  The  common  objects  in  this  and  subsequent  classes  include:  articles  of 
furniture,  kitchen  utensils,  joiner's  and  locksmith's  tools,  hardware  and  tiling, 
mouldings,  balustrades,  and  grille  work  that  concern  building  operations. 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  305 

The  four  sections  of  the  first  form  and  the  two  of  the 
philosophy   form   have   a    common   program   for   free-hand 
drawing,  two  hours  per  week,  required  in  the      First  and 
scientific  sections  of  the  first  form,  but  optional    FP[ulos(Sl1^. 

in  the  Others.  hand  Drawing. 

The  program  is  as  follows : 

I.  Development  and  application  of  the  preceding  work  (some  les- 
sons may  be  devoted  to  a  study  of  the  head  from  nature).  II.  Study  of 
landscape  from  engravings.  (When  circumstances  permit,  the  pupils 
may  have  practice  in  drawing  landscapes  and  buildings  from  nature.) 

FIRST  FORM 

Mechanical  Drawing,  2  hours.  Elevation  of  the  details,  and  geo- 
metrical representation  in  outline,  to  scale,  of  the  geometrical  solids 
and  the  common  objects.  Shadows,  together  with  the  theory  and 
practice  of  wash-drawing.  Elevation  of  the  details  and  geometrical 
representation  to  scale  of  the  parts  of  the  simpler  machines  (some 
being  washed).     Free-hand  elevation  drawings  of  common  objects. 

MATHEMATICS   FORM1 

Mechanical  Drawing,  2  hours.  (Programs  common  to  Sections  A 
and  B.)  Continuation  of  exercises  of  previous  year  on  shading  and 
wash  drawing.  Spiral  surfaces.  Notions  of  perspective.  Machine  and 
construction  drawing.  Free-hand  elevation  drawings  of  common 
objects. 

Below  the  sixth  form  the  drawing  teaching  is  in  the  hands 
of  the  regular  class  teachers,  but  from  that  point  on  it  is  all 
done  by  highly  trained  specialists,  most  of  the  teachers  being 
old  Beaux- Arts  students.  The  result  is  that  these  men  are 
not  mere  drawing  teachers, — they  are  artists.  The  equipment 
for  the  drawing  is  uniformly  excellent,  large,  high,  and  well- 
lighted  rooms  with  northern  exposure,  and  a  bountiful  supply 
of  plaster  models,  the  walls  of  some  of  these  studios  being 
fairly  covered  with  material.  In  one  of  these  rooms  that  I 
visited  there  were  two  classes,  a  third  form  and  a  group  of 
upper  class  boys  each  ranged  in  a  series  of  concentric  circle 

1  There  is  no  program  outlined  for  the  two  hours  optional  course  in  free- 
hand drawing  in  this  course. 


306  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

arcs  and  each  working  under  its  own  teacher.  As  is  fre- 
quently the  case,  the  third  form  boys  were  divided  into  two 
groups  according  to  ability,  one  sketching  the  bust  of  a  man> 
and  the  others  still  working  on  a  low  relief  rosette.  Occa- 
sionally one  finds  some  of  the  cleverest  fellows  modelling 
their  own  designs  in  plaster,  but  this  is  quite  apart  from  the 
official  program,  and  is  encouraged  only  in  exceptional  cases. 
Happily  the  ideas  of  the  independent  school  have  not  suc- 
ceeded in  divorcing  modelling  from  a  thorough  grasp  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  drawing. 

Gymnastics 

Although  gymnastics  and  gymnastic  instruction  have 
formed  the  basis  of  decrees,  orders,  and  ministerial  instruc- 
tions from  time  to  time,  the  subject  does  not  seem  to  have 
found  a  regular  place  on  the  official  programs.  The  work 
is  still  given  in  accordance  with  the  official  circular  of  1890 
and  the  Manuel  d'exercices  gymnastiques  et  de  jeux  scolaires 
published  in  the  following  year,  for  the  joint  ministerial 
commission  appointed  in  September,  1906,  at  the  instance  of 
the  Minister  of  War,  to  draw  up  a  new  uniform  program 
of  gymnastic  instruction  to  be  followed  in  the  schools,  in 
gymnastic  associations,  and  in  the  army,  has  not  yet  sent  in 
its  report. 

Until  a  little  more  than  twenty  years  ago,  the  sum  total  of 

the  work  in  physical  education  was  limited  to  gymnastics, 

Development    fencmg>  an^  a  much  supervised  and  restricted 

of  the         kind  of  target  shooting,  the  first  named  receiv- 

uction.     ing  formal  recognition  in  the  official  program, 

the  two  latter  being  entirely  optional,  and  paid  for  as  extras. 

The  gymnastic  work  was  in  the  hands  of  special  teachers,  for 

the  most  part  former  instructors  of  the  old  military  gymnastic 

school  of  Joinville.     Classed  as  irregulars,  these  teachers  had 

little  authority  over  the  boys,  and  exercised  still  less  control. 

The  exercises  were  all  taken  bodily  from  those  in  use  in  the 

army,  where  mere  muscular  development  seemed  to  be  the 

prime  object.     The  result  was  that  these  various  movements 


OTHER  SUBJECTS  OF   INSTRUCTION  307 

were  executed  blindly,  without  any  regard  to  the  physiologi- 
cal influence  upon  the  pupils.  The  introduction  of  the  Ling 
system  of  Swedish  gymnastics,  however,  marked  a  decided 
advance  over  the  former  conditions. 

The  system  at  present  in  vogue  is  that  of  M.  G.  Demeny. 
M.  Demeny  proceeded  in  a  logical  fashion,  studying  the 
phvsiological  effects  of  the  various  movements 

x UPDOSG 

upon  the  growth  and  the  functioning  of  the  hu- 
man organism.  His  cardinal  principle  was  not  to  use  a  single 
movement  that  he  did  not  know  to  have  a  beneficial  effect 
upon  the  boy.  This  eliminated  much  of  the  former  work 
which  was  decidedly  special  in  its  nature  and  of  value  to  the 
soldier  class,  and  furthermore  was  adapted  to  the  needs  of 
the  adult  rather  than  those  of  the  young.  Free  use  was  made 
of  the  larger  movements  that  are  conducive  to  proper  carriage 
and  general  sound  bodily  vigor  rather  than  to  those  that  tend 
to  develop  the  athlete.  Throughout  it  all  the  aesthetic,  the 
economic,  and  the  moral  influences  are  constantly  kept  in 
view. 

In  order  the  better  to  realize  these  ideals,  the  Minister  of 
Public  Instruction  organized  a  course  in  physical  education 
in  the  summer  of  1903,  under  the  direction  of 
this  M.  Demeny.  It  has  been  given  every  year  Teaching 
since  that  time  in  one  of  the  Paris  lyce'es,  and  it 
attracts  teachers  from  all  over  France.  The  course  consists  of 
a  series  of  lectures  by  specialists  in  this  field  of  work,  largely 
physicians  who  not  only  know  the  anatomy  and  the  physiology 
of  the  human  body,  but  who  also  know  "  the  boy,"  and  this 
theory  is  supplemented  by  a  large  amount  of  practical  work  in 
the  school  gymnasium.  Those  that  pass  the  examination  at 
the  conclusion  of  the  course  receive  the  higher  diploma  for 
gymnastic  instruction.  As  fast  as  the  old  teachers  retire  their 
places  are  filled  by  the  holders  of  these  special  diplomas,  so 
that  before  very  long  all  the  physical  education  will  be  upon 
a  distinctly  higher  and  saner  plane. 

To  the  eye  of  the  ordinary  visitor,  the  method  of  M.  Demeny 
seems  to  follow  substantially  the  Swedish  system,  though  most 


308  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

of  the  movements  are   performed  without   even  the  light 
wands  in  use  there.     As  long  as  the  weather  permits,  these 
exercises  are  mainly  conducted  in  the  open  air, 
ttie  Schools11    tne  gymnasium  serving  chiefly  in  periods  of  in- 
clement weather,  and  for  the  jumping,  climbing, 
and  bar  work  which  furnish  an  opportunity  for  competition 
and  so  serve  to  vary  the  dull  routine  of  marches,  rounds,  and 
ordinary  corporal  movements.     Gymnastic  work  occupies  one 
and  a  half  hours  per  week,  commonly  divided  into  three  half- 
hour  periods  in  every  class  except  the  Saint-Cyr  preparatory. 
In  view  of  the  physical  examination  required  of  all  candi- 
dates for  this  military  school,  these  boys  have  two  additional 
periods  per  week,  aside  entirely  from  the  horseback  riding 
which  is  likewise  required  of  them. 

Although  even  to  the  casual  observer  there  has  been  a 
marked  increase  in  the  athletic  spirit  in  France  during  the 
Lack  of       ^as^  ^ve  vears>  I  nave  never  yet  seen  a  gym- 
Interest  in     nasium  class  where  there  was  any  live,  spon- 
Athlehcs.      taneous  interest  in  the  work.     In  fact  most  of 
the  boys  seem  to  go  through  the  movements  in  a  most  non- 
chalant sort  of  fashion,  as  though  it  were  some  task  that  had 
to  be  done,  and  the  sooner  it  was  over  the  better.     In  spite 
of  the  growing  interest  in  scholastic  sport,  it  will  probably  be 
many  a  year  before  any  game  even  approximates  the  position 
occupied  by  football  and  cricket  in  England,  or  football  and 
baseball  in  the  United  States. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 

THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION   OF  GIELS 

Up  to  this  point  there    has   scarcely  been   even  passing 
reference  to  the  education  of  girls.     When  one  recalls  that 
in  May,  1907,  were  held  the  commemorative    Girls' Lycees 
exercises  celebrating  the  twenty-fifth  anniver-      ofKecent 
sary  of  the  foundation  of  the  first  girls'  lyce*e, 
the   significance   of    this   omission    at    once    becomes  'ap- 
parent.1    In  December,  1880,  the  law  providing  for  public 
secondary   education   of    girls   under   state   control    passed 
the  parliament  in  spite  of  strong  opposition,  which  in  the 
case  of  the  senate  seriously  jeopardized  the  passage  of  the 
bill  on  more  than  one  occasion.     Not  that  there  had  been 
no  secondary  education  of  girls  before  that  time,  but  it  had 
been  exclusively  under  private  jurisdiction,  the  major  part 
of  the  schools  being  in  the  control  of  the  religious  teach- 
ing bodies  of  the  church. 

Even  in  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  very 
little  had  been  actually  accomplished  toward  girls'  education. 
"It  is  only  within  fifty  years,"  says  Madame      „,       . 
Campan,  writing  about  1812,  "that  attention      during  the 
has   been  paid  to   the   education   of  women;    Eighteenth 
the  progress  of  this  phase  of  public  instruction 
has  been  really  notable  only  since  the  crisis  of  the  French 
Eevolution.     Twenty-five   years  before   that   epoch,   almost 
all  the  girls  spent  only  a  single  year  in  the  monasteries, 
and  that  year  was  the  one  destined  for  a  thorough  study 
of  the  catechism,  for  the  retreat,  and  for  the  first  commun- 

1  The  whole  June  (1907)  number  of  L'enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes 
filles  is  devoted  to  the  quarter  centennial  celebration. 


310  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

ion.  .  .  .  But  the  practice  has  long  been  abandoned  of 
leaving  girls  behind  the  convent  grating  up  to  the  age  of 
eighteen  whence  they  come  forth  without  knowing  how  to 
write  two  words  of  French."1  The  great  social  reforms  of 
the  Revolutionary  period,  in  spite  of  their  efforts  toward 
levelling  the  existing  inequality  of  the  sexes  educationally 
speaking,  had  really  accomplished  nothing  for  the  secondary 
education  of  the  gentler  sex.  "  They  resulted  only  in  phil- 
osophical speculations,  and  for  anything  beyond  primary 
instruction,  their  projects  are  silent ;  from  the  year  IV. 
until  the  year  VIII.  (1796-1800)  the  administration  re- 
ports of  the  department  of  the  Seine  make  no  mention 
of  any  public  instruction  of  a  higher  order  for  girls."  2 

The  school  at  Ecouen,   founded  by  Napoleon  in   1807, 
resembled  in  some   respects  the   old   school   at   Saint-Cyr 

established  by  Louis  XIV.  more  than  a  cen- 
Ecouen.       tury  previous  and  so  intelligently  administered 

by  Madame  de  Maintenon.  Saint-Cyr  was  des- 
tined for  the  education  of  the  daughters  of  impecunious 
noblemen;  Ecouen  was  intended  for  the  daughters  and  sis- 
ters of  members  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  A  public  school 
drawing  its  pupils  from  all  ranks  of  society  but  neverthe- 
less from  a  very  narrow  vertical  section  of  society,  the  chief 
claim  to  the  secondary  character  of  Ecouen  rests  upon  its 
segregation  from  the  ordinary  primary  schools  then  in  ex- 
istence and  upon  the  fact  that  it  intended  to  retain  its 
pupils  until  they  reached  the  age  of  eighteen  years.  Out  of 
regard  to  the  objections  of  the  general  officers  to  the  very 
democratic  character  of  the  school,  a  similar  establishment 
was  opened  at  Saint-Denis,  two  years  later,  which  was  set 
apart  for  the  children  of  officers  above  a  captain.  Ecouen 
was  soon  absorbed  by  Saint-Denis  and  under  the  Restoration 
disappeared  entirely.  The  instruction  and  board  at  both 
these  institutions  as  well  as  those  subsequently  founded  for  a 
similar  purpose  were  free,  but  there  was  some  provision  for 

.      *  Mme.  Camp  an,  De  I 'education,  Edition  Barriere,  1824,  I.,  p.  225. 

2  Gerard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  I.,  p.  104. 


THE   PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  311 

board  and  tuition  fees  from  those  in  position  to  pay.  At 
one  time  Ecouen  had  as  many  as  five  hundred  pupils.  In 
accordance  with  Napoleon's  express  direction,  religious  in- 
struction occupied  the  first  place  in  the  course  of  study ;  he 
sought  to  turn  out  "believers  rather  than  reasoners."  The 
other  instruction  embraced  French  history,  geography, 
arithmetic,  writing,  dancing  (merely  to  give  a  proper  car- 
riage), drawing,  music,  sewing,  mending,  and  a  kind  of 
household  economy.  This  latter  included  the  home  ac- 
counts, care  of  the  linen,  bed  making,  cleaning  and  sweeping 
the  class  rooms,  and  laying  and  serving  *the  meal.  The 
attempts  to  teach  washing,  ironing,  and  putting  up  pre- 
serves were  not  so  successful,  for  Madame  Campan  "  prompt- 
ly repented  of  entrusting  muslins  to  their  hot  irons,  and 
fruits  and  sugar  to  their  inevitable  epicurism."1  She  con- 
cluded that  this  sort  of  instruction  could  not  profitably  be 
given  to  young  women  under  eighteen  years  of  age.  They 
were  furthermore  taught  to  look  out  for  their  comrades  in 
the  lower  classes,  and  to  give  them  certain  instruction 
with  a  view  to  teaching  their  own  children  later  on.  How- 
ever much  Madame  Campan  may  have  tempered  the  severity 
of  the  discipline  found  in  other  girls'  schools  of  the  period 
and  however  practical  this  instruction  may  have  been  for 
the  young  women,  it  was  not  always  received  by  them 
with  good  grace,  and  some  protested  vigorously  against  the 
regime  of  the  school  in  words  that  might  almost  seem  to 
have  been  written  by  a  newly  arrived  pupil  of  yesterday : 
"  The  cruel  bell  has  just  made  itself  heard  again ;  it 
ceaseth  not  to  sound  for  the  beginning  of  class  work,  the 
writing  lesson,  and  the  instruction  period.  I  could  pardon 
its  infernal  noise  if  it  would  only  ring  oftener  for  play 
time.  It  rings  ten  minutes  before  dinner  so  that  we,  like 
servants,  may  fulfil  the  disagreeable  duty  of  cleaning  out 
our  desks  and  sweeping  the  class  room;  then  it  rings  for 
dinner,  for  supper,  and  for  bed;  but  the  most  detestable 
of  all  these  sounds  is  that  in  the  morning  :  everything 
1  Mmb.  Campan,  op.  cit.,  p.  283. 


312  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

goes  like  clockwork  here.  0!  how  I  long  for  my  little 
room  at  Valma,  so  calm,  so  remote  from  the  noise  of  the 
street!  How  unjust  I  was  when  I  murmured  against  a 
poor  rooster  that  woke  me  up,  of  a  truth  too  often,  but 
he  at  least  left  me  free  to  go  to  sleep  again!  Here  three 
hundred  people  have  to  move  as  one,  in  accordance  with 
a  single  will,  in  *a  set  fashion ;  there  are  details,  too,  that 
disgust  me." *  These  schools  for  the  children  of  the  mem- 
bers of  the  Legion  of  Honor  do  not  indicate  any  very 
widespread  interest  in  the  cause  of  girls'  public  secondary 
education  on  the  part  of  the  State,  but  they  represent  the 
sum  total  of  its  efforts  in  that  direction. 

The  First  Empire  had  thus  accomplished  nothing  of  a  gen- 
eral nature ;  its  immediate  successors  were  no  more  fortu- 
Private       nata     ^n  ^e  meantime  private  enterprise  had 
Venture      not  been  idle.     The  number  of  lay  and  clerical 
Schools.      institutions  multiplied  rapidly,  so  that  by  1848, 
in  the  department  of  the  Seine  alone,  there  were  two  hun- 
dred and  ninety-four  with  a  population  of  more  than  fifteen 
thousand.2      Twenty-eight  of  these  schools  were   convents. 
The  ordinance  of  the  king  in  1821  3  had  recognized  an  order 
of  instruction  above  that  given  in  the  primary  schools,  di- 
viding establishments  of  this  sort  into  two  categories,  board- 
ing schools  (pensions),  and  "  institutions."     As  prescribed  by 
regulation  in  1837,4a  document  which  Gr^ard  considers  "as 

1  Mme.  Campan,  Lettres  de  deux  jeunes  amies,  Aleves  d'lZcouen,  p.  51. 

2  Greard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  I.,  p.  117. 

8  Ordonnance,  Oct.  31,  1821,  reprinted  as  Annex  I.  to  Reglements  et  at- 
rU6s  concernant  les  maisons  d' 'Education  de  files,  1844,  pp.  488-489. 

4  Ibid.,  p.  490.  This  regulation  is  significant  as  for  the  first  time  distin- 
guishing clearly  the  scope  of  these  two  types  of  girls'  higher  schools.  The 
differentiation  here  is  plainly  along  the  lines  of  subject  matter. 

The  divergence  between  the  boarding  schools  and  the  "institutions"  seems 
to  have  become  less  marked  a  few  years  later.  See  Marie  Sincere  (Mme.  Ro- 
mieu),  Les  pensionnats  de  jeunes  filles,  2d  edition,  1854,  p.  10,  where  the  in- 
struction in  these  two  kinds  of  establishments  is  said  to  be  exactly  the  same, 
the  distinction  between  the  two  depending  solely  upon  the  grade  of  diploma 
possessed  by  the  mistress  of  the  school.  The  head  of  the  "  institution  "  held 
a  full  diploma  from  the  city  hall  authorities  or  from  the  Sorbonne,  while  the 
head  of  the  boarding  school  had  merely  a  second  class  diploma. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  313 

the  first  charter  of  girls'  secondary  education,"  the  subjects 
of  instruction  in  the  boarding  schools  included :  "  moral  and 
religious  instruction,  reading,  writing,  French  grammar, 
arithmetic  through  proportion  and  the  rules  depending 
thereon,  history  of  France,  modern  geography,  elementary 
notions  of  physics  and  natural  history  in  their  practical  ap- 
plications, drawing,  music,  sewing,  and  modern  languages." 
In  the  more  advanced  schools,  the  "  institutions,"  the  pro- 
gram embraced  all  these  subjects,  together  with  "the 
elements  of  literature  and  the  principles  of  taste  as  applied 
to  style,  ancient  geography,  ancient  and  modern  history,  and 
the  elements  of  cosmography."  Both  these  grades  of  schools 
were  essentially  boarding  schools.  With  a  view  to  regulat- 
ing the  abuses  that  had  crept  in  as  a  result  of  the  rapid  de- 
velopment of  these  private  venture  enterprises,  the  prefect  of 
the  Seine,  with  the  confirmation  of  the  Minister  in  1844, 
appointed  three  women  to  inspect  these  girls'  schools  of  the 
department.1  Their  responsibilities  were  extended  so  as  to 
include  religious  as  well  as  lay  schools,  but  in  the  case  of  the 
former  the  official  inspection  was  ordinarily  made  in  co-opera- 
tion with  an  ecclesiastic  appointed  by  the  archbishop.  These 
newly  appointed  women  inspectors  evidently  did  their  work 
well,  for  in  the  next  few  years  there  was  an  appreciable 
decrease  in  the  number  of  these  lay  institutions,  the  less 
desirable  of  them  being  forced  out  of  existence. 

For  the  moment,  it  seemed  as  though  definite  results  would 
evolve  out  of  this  widespread  interest  in  the  education  of 
girls.     In  1847  the  report  was  noised  abroad   Rise  and  Fall 
that  a  commission  had  even  then    been    ap-      of  Public 
pointed  to  consider  the  question  of  establish-       Interest. 
ing  girls'  colleges  that  would  take  rank  beside  those  already 
in  existence  for  boys.     The  following  year  an  elaborate  plan  2 
was  presented  to   the   Minister   of  Public   Instruction   for 

1  Reglements  et  arrttte,  supra,  pp.  487-488.  See  also  Journal  gbntral  de 
V  instruction  publique,  Sept.  13,  1845,  p.  482  ;  and  Mme.  Bachellery,  Lettres 
sur  V education  des  femmes,  L,  p.  490. 

2  Mme.  Bachellery,  Lettres  sur  V Education  des  femmes,  pp.  211-237. 


314  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

creating  a  normal  school  to  prepare  teachers  for  these 
colleges-to-be,  a  plan  remarkably  interesting  for  the  empha- 
sis placed  upon  industrial  work  and  household  economy  of  a 
most  practical  sort.  The  reactionary  Falloux  law  of  1850, 
however,  put  an  end  to  all  these  hopes.  A  rapid  increase  in 
the  number  of  private  courses  taught  by  women  was  one  of 
the  salient  consequences  of  this  new  law,  but  no  material 
progress  toward  state  established  institutions  was  recorded 
for  nearly  two  decades.  Jules  Simon  in  1867  characterized 
the  instruction  in  even  the  best  of  the  boarding  schools  as 
"  futile  and  incomplete,  all  the  accomplishments,  but  nothing 
serious  or  elevating."  At  the  same  time  Minister  Duruy 
denied  that  there  was  any  real  secondary  education  of  girls 
in  France  at  all.1 

Not  only  did  M.  Duruy  signalize  the  defect  but  he  also 
pointed  out  a  remedy.  As  a  result  of  his  recommendations2 
Foundation  of  secondary  courses  for  girls  sprang  into  exist- 
Secondary  ence  in  various  parts  of  France,  and  thus  a 
Courses.  foundation  was  laid  upon  which  the  super- 
structure of  the  college  and  the  lycde  could  subsequently  be 
erected.  In  Paris  a  group  of  well  known  people  formed  the 
"Association  for  Girls'  Secondary  Education,"  among  the 
charter  members  of  which  was  M.  Levasseur,  the  distin- 
guished professor  at  the  College  of  France,  who  to-day  is  still 
the  executive  head  of  the  organization.  Each  course  came 
once  a  week  for  three  years,  a  lecture  in  letters  and  one  in 
science  occupying  consecutive  hours  on  Tuesday,  Thursday, 
and  Saturday  afternoons.  The  year  extended  from  the  first 
of  December  until  the  end  of  May,  the  first  half  devoted  to 
domestic  economy  and  mathematics,  literature  and  natural 
history,  French  history  and  chemistry,  on  Tuesday,  Thurs- 
day, and  Saturday  respectively,  and  the  second  half  cor- 
respondingly to  geography  of  France  and  mathematics, 
literature  and  physics,  French  history  and  natural  history.3 

1  Instructions  aux  recteurs,  Bull,  adm.,  1867,  II.,  p.  472. 

2  See  supra,  p.  80. 

8  See  the  prospectus  of  the  association,  in  Bull,    adm.,    1867,    II.,  pp. 
515-519. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  315 

The  program  was  patterned  after  that  of  the  newly- 
founded  "  modern "  course  for  the  boys'  secondary  schools, 
although  modern  language  work  was  conspicuously  absent, 
for  that  demanded  a  more  intensive  study  than  this  attenu- 
ated scheme  permitted.  The  succeeding  year,  however, 
English,  German,  and  drawing  were  added, .  the  domestic 
economy  was  replaced  by  grammar,  and  the  whole  course 
was  established  on  a  more  substantial,  logical  basis.  Follow- 
ing the  analogy  of  the  boys'  schools,  it  led  up  to  a  diploma 
which  grew  more  valuable  as  the  standard  of  the  work  im- 
proved from  time  to  time.  Far  from  meriting  the  name  of 
school,  this  was  nevertheless  an  organized  system  of  second- 
ary education  for  girls  under  government  sanction  and  con- 
trol which  prepared  specifically  for  a  government  diploma. 
Just  as  this  secondary  course  formed  a  step  in  the  evolution 
of  the  national  system  of  girls'  secondary  education,  so  it 
ordinarily  constitutes  a  preliminary  stage  in  the  develop- 
ment in  any  particular  community  to-day.  In  other  words, 
in  case  the  demand  is  sufficiently  strong,  a  secondary  course 
will  be  organized  in  a  town,  a  comparatively  inexpensive 
experiment  at  the  most,  to  try  the  public  temper  and  the 
public  purse  if  they  be  ready  to  undertake  the  secondary- 
education  of  young  women.  If  the  venture  is  successful,  the 
course  is  likely  to  be  transformed  into  a  college.1  More  than 
one  of  the  present  lyc^es  have  passed  through  these  two 
transition  stages.  Few  if  any  of  the  early  secondary  courses 
however,  developed  directly  into  the  more  permanent  form 
of  college  or  lyc£e,  but  they  at  least  blazed  the  way.  The 
secondary  courses,  which  for  a  long  time  provided  the  only 
opportunity  for  girls'  secondary  education,  are  seldom  looked 
upon  as  permanent  institutions,  although  in  some  cases  the 
communities  prefer  to  support  this  character  of  secondary 
instruction  rather  than  to  assume  the  additional  burdens  and 
responsibilities  that  the  creation  of  a  lyc£e  or  a  college  would 
entail.     They  are  almost  always  in  charge  of  a  directress. 

1  Four  of  the  five  new  colleges  opened  during  the  year   1906-7  represent 
these  transformed  secondary  courses.    Bull.  adm.}  1907,  II.,  p.  769. 


316  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

In  the  few  cases  where  a  man  is  at  the  head,  there  is  a 
woman  associated  with  him.  The  teaching  force  is  ordina- 
rily drawn  from  the  staff  of  the  boys'  lycdes  or  colleges  in 
the  vicinity.  Some  of  these  secondary  courses  follow  the 
regular  program  of  the  lyc^es  and  colleges  while  many  of 
them  cut  this  down  appreciably.  In  either  case  they  have 
no  authority  to  grant  the  diploma,  or  even  the  certificate  at 
the  end  of  the  third  year.1  Their  courses  in  a  general  way 
prepare  for  the  examinations  for  the  elementary  and  the 
higher  diplomas  (brevet  elementaire  and  brevet  supcrieur)  of 
the  primary  school  system,  so  that  the  pupils  successful  in 
passing  either  of  these  state  examinations  thus  have  a  sort 
of  testimonial  of  graduation.  Every  year  graduates  of  these 
courses  enter  the  competition  for  admission  to  the  school  at 
Sevres,  and  not  a  few  of  them  are  successful 

The  law  of  December  21, 1880,  in  definitely  ordering  the 
establishment  of  girls'  secondary  schools,  put  an  end  to  a 

Establishment  discussion  that  had  been  going  on  in  the  Par- 
of  State       liament  for  more  than  a  year,  and  had  more 

Schools,  1880.  £nan  once  given  rise  to  acrimonious  debate.2 
The  opposition  from  the  clerical  party  was  particularly  vig- 
orous. It  was  based  primarily  on  the  assertion  that  girls' 
education  was  already  adequately  provided  for  in  the  schools 
then  in  existence,  although  one  speaker  went  so  far  as  to 
point  out  the  great  danger  to  domestic  happiness  and  com- 
fort that  would  result  from  over-educating  the  women.3  A  far 
stronger  basis  for  this  opposition  was  undoubtedly  the  fear  of 
loss  of  prestige  through  the  competition  of  the  state  schools, 
and  the  foreshadowing  of  the/  subsequent  complete  laiciza- 
tion  of  the  whole  school  system  in  the  omission  of  religious 
instruction  from  the  course  of  study.  .The  other  chief  point 
of  contention  was  as  to  whether  th/se  new  lycdes  and  col- 
leges should  be  boarding  schools  or  day  schools.     As  finally 

1  Exception  is  made  in  the  case  of  the  course  of  the  Ligue  de  V  enseignement 
at  Algiers,  which  is  authorized  to  grant  both  these  academic  distinctions. 

2  For  the  parliamentary  debate  and  the  detailed  account  of  the  passage  of 
this  bill,  see  Camille  See,  Lyctes  et  colleges  de  jeunes  filles,  pp.  57-459. 

8  Ibid.,  p.  204. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  317 

passed,  the  law  provided  for  day  schools,  but  it  further  put 
them  on  the  same  footing  as  the  boys'  colleges,  so  that  the 
municipalities  might  annex  boarding  departments  to  the 
lycdes  at  the  charge  either  of  the  principal  or  of  the  com- 
munity. As  a  matter  of  fact,  boarding  departments  have 
been  added  in  nearly  every  case  except  in  the  Paris  lyce'es, 
so  that  to  the  casual  observer  the  organization  of  these  girls' 
schools  is  no  whit  different  from  that  of  an  ordinary  boys' 
lycee.  The  State,  however,  is  relieved  of  the  responsibility 
and  the  expense  of  maintaining  the  boarding  departments, 
which  experience  in  the  case  of  the  boys'  lyc^es  had  shown 
to  be  no  slight  burden.  In  accordance  with  the  new  law, 
the  first  lyc6*e  was  opened  at  Montpellier  in  the  fall  of 
1881 ;  that  at  Eouen  followed  at  the  beginning  of  the  next 
school  year;  the  first  at  Paris,  Lyce'e  Fdnelon,  opened  its 
doors  in  September,  1883 ;  Auxerre,  the  first  of  the  com- 
munal colleges,  was  opened  the  month  after  Montpellier,  and 
was  in  turn  followed  by  Grenoble  early  the  next  spring. 

The  fees  in  the  girls'  lyc£es  are  considerably  lower  than  in 
the  boys',  ranging  for  the  day  pupils  from  40  to  110  francs 
per  year ;  for  the  supervised  study  pupils,  from 
55  to  130  francs;  for  the  half  boarders,  from 
250  to  400  francs;  and  for  the  boarding  pupils,  from  400 
to  600  francs  in  the  lyce'e  at  Agen,  up  to  100  to  250  francs, 
150  to  300  francs,  400  to  600  francs,  and  825  francs  per 
year  for  the  corresponding  categories  of  pupils  at  Versailles. 
In  most  cases  the  fees  increase  with  the  advance  in  class, 
although  a  few  of  the  schools  follow  the  custom  in  vogue  at 
Versailles  of  charging  a  single  price  for  all  resident  pupils. 
In  the  Paris  lyc^es,  where  there  are  no  boarders,  the  day  pu- 
pils pay  ordinarily  from  200  to  300  francs,  and  for  the  super- 
vised study  periods  from  100  to  150  francs  additional.  The 
fees  at  the  girls'  colleges  are  slightly  lower  on  the  whole. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  growth  of  the  lyc^es 
colleges,  and  secondary  courses  up  to  the  fall  of  1907  i1 

1    Statistique  de  V enseignement  secondaire  en  1887,  t.  II.  ;  S£e,  op.  cit., 
p.  120S  ;  Bull,  adm.,  1907,  II.,  p.  769. 


318  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

GIRLS'  LYCEES,  COLLEGES,  AND  SECONDARY    COURSES 


First  foun- 
dations 

Number  of 
establishments 

Number  of  pupils 

1887 

1897 

1907 

1887 

1897 

1907 

Lycees  .... 

Colleges  .    .    . 

Secondary 
Courses     .    . 

Montpellier 
Jan.  1882  « 
Auxerre 
May,  1882 
Le  Roche-sur- 
Yon,  May, 
1879  4 

20 
23 

69 

36 

273 

? 

47 
61 

63 

33302 

2678 

4395 

7792 
3051 

? 

16760 
10184 

6899 

Public 

Expense. 


In  spite  of  the  spread  of  girls'  secondary  education  during 
the  last  quarter  century,  it  does  not  yet  occupy  the  same 
importance  in  the  public  eye  as  does  that  of 
the  boys.  The  State  and  the  communities  have 
spent  large  sums  of  money,  but  they  have  not 
been  lavish  in  their  gifts  for  this  purpose.  The  total  expense  to 
the  State  of  the  one  hundred  thirteen  boys'  lycees  for  the  year 
1908  (exclusive  of  scholarships  and  building  grants)  was  about 
fourteen  and  a  quarter  millions  of  francs,  while  in  the  forty-six 

1  This  is  the  official  date  of  the  foundation,  although  both  Mont- 
pellier and  Auxerre  were  opened  provisionally  in  the  fall  of  1881,  the 
former  in  October  and  the  latter  in  November. 

2  None  of  these  population  figures  represents  the  number  of  second- 
ary pupils  in  our  sense  of  the  word,  for  they  likewise  include  the  pupils 
in  the  elementary  classes.  The  lycee  figures  for  1897,  for  example,  are 
composed  of  4352  real  secondary  pupils  and  3440  in  the  lower  classes. 
For  the  colleges  in  the  same  year,  the  numbers  are  1648  and  1403 
respectively. 

a  The  growth  in  the  number  of  colleges  by  1897  had  really  been  much 
greater  than  this  figure  would  seem  to  indicate,  for  seven  of  the  twenty- 
three  in  existence  in  1887  had  in  the  meantime  been  transformed  into 
lycees. 

4  Others  had  been  founded  before  this,  but  for  one  reason  or  another 
had  ceased  to  exist.  This  is  the  return  on  the  basis  of  those  actually  in 
existence  in  December,  1887. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  319 

girls'  lyc£es  it  was  a  little  under  two  millions.1  With  57,160 
boys  and  15,969  girls  enrolled  in  1906,  for  that  was  the  school 
population  upon  which  these  appropriations  were  granted, 
the  relative  difference  is  seen  to  be  considerable.  The  board- 
ing department  of  the  boys'  schools  is  undoubtedly  respon- 
sible for  some  of  this  discrepancy,  for  try  as  they  will  the 
authorities  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  eliminating  the  deficit 
here;  but  that  is  not  pertinent  to  the  point  in  question. 
Some  of  the  girls'  lycdes  would  be  nearly  if  not  quite  self- 
supporting  were  it  not  for  the  free  tuition  granted  to  daugh- 
ters of  teachers  and  functionaries  of  the  department  of  public 
instruction,  but  the  boys'  lycdes  are  a  long  way  from  attain- 
ing this  position  of  independence  of  state  support.  If  figures 
were  available  for  calculating  the  expenses  of  the  communal 
colleges,  the  difference  in  favor  of  the  boys  would  probably 
be  still  more  striking.  In  fact,  a  community  has  even  been 
known  to  undersupply  the  girls'  college  in  order  to  devote 
the  surplus  toward  making  up  the  deficit  in  the  local  boys' 
college.  Fortunately  similar  instances  are  rare,  but  such 
parsimony  suggests  that  girls'  secondary  education  is  not  yet 
universally  looked  upon  as  a  right. 

Many  of  the  early  lyce'es  were  established  in  old  buildings, 
remodelled  as  well  as  they  could  be  for  school  purposes,  and 
in  some  instances  the  discarded  boys'  lyc^e  has  . 

been  deemed  good  enough  to  serve  the  needs  of 
girls'  education.  The  equipment  of  the  girls'  lyc^es  and  col- 
leges on  the  whole  is  distinctly  inferior  to  that  in  the  cor- 
responding boys'  institutions.  On  the  other  hand,  in  the 
recent  addition  to  the  Lyc^e  Eacine  in  Paris,  and  particularly 
in  the  new  Lyc£e  Fdnelon  at  Lille,  one  finds  as  efficient  a 
type  of  school  architecture  as  exists  in  France.  In  both 
these  schools  the  class  rooms  are  bright  and  cheerful,  and 
barring  the  proverbially  poor  ventilation,  they  are  good 
school  rooms.  Futhermore  at  Lille  the  bathing  arrange- 
ments are  well-nigh  perfect.  Each  girl  has  a  daily  shower 
with  ample  provision  for  tub  baths  in  addition,  the  whole 

1  Budget,  1908,  p.  398. 


320  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

equipment  representing  the  very  highest  type  of  modern 
plumbing.  The  improvement  in  bathing  facilities  in  the 
last  five  years  in  France  far  surpasses  the  progress  in  any 
other  phase  of  school  equipment.  Few  if  any  other  girls' 
lyc6*es  have  reached  the  point  already  attained  in  Lille,  but 
the  best  of  them  are  even  now  considerably  in  advance  of  the 
boys'  schools  in  this  particular. 

The  difference  between  the  girls'  lyce'es  and  colleges  is  ex- 
actly the  same  as  pertains  in  the  corresponding  boys'  schools. 
.  .  This  similarity  further  extends  to  the  establish- 

ment of  the  schools,  the  inspection,  the  admin- 
istration, and  the  appointment  of  teachers.  In  fact,  except  for 
the  status  of  the  resident  pupils,  the  programs,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  work,  they  present  few  outward  differences. 

The  subjects  of  instruction  specified  in  the  original  law  re- 
main to-day  unchanged,  although  important  modifications  in 
the  daily  program  and  in  the  weekly  distri- 
CDiplomaand  bution  of  nours  Per  subject  were  made  in  1897. 
The  secondary  course  proper  extends  over  five 
years,  from  the  twelfth  to  the  seventeenth  year,  divided  into 
periods  of  three  and  two  years  respectively.  A  sixth  year 
has  been  added  in  a  few  lyc^es  in  order  to  prepare  for  the 
entrance  examination  for  the  normal  school  at  Sevres.  In 
the  first  period  all  the  work  is  obligatory,  while  in  the  sec- 
ond a  considerable  degree  of  choice  is  allowed.  Successful 
passage  of  the  examination  at  the  end  of  the  third  year  con- 
fers a  "  certificate  of  secondary  study,"  and  corresponding 
success  at  the  completion  of  the  course  brings  its  reward  in 
the  secondary  diploma  (diplome  de  fin  d'etudes  secondaires). 
This  final  examination  is  based  upon  the  required  work  of 
the  fourth  and  fifth  classes,  together  with  the  optional 
courses  of  these  two  years  as  designated  by  the  candidate. 
While  there  is  no  technical  objection  to  the  pupil  presenting 
all  these  optional  subjects,  in  practice  she  makes  a  choice 
between  the  letters  and  the  science  courses,  as  represented 
by  the  second  modern  language  and  the  mathematics- 
drawing  of  the  fourth  and  fifth  years.     The  requirements 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  321 

for  this  diploma  are  considerably  below  the  standard  of  the 
baccalaureate.  There  is  apparently  no  serious  tendency 
toward  an  equalization  of  these  two  examinations,  nor,  in 
fact,  is  there  any  reason  why  there  should  be,  for  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  understand  how  one  could  reasonably  expect  the  girls 
to  accomplish  as  much  work  in  five  years  as  the  boys  do  in 
seven,  and  besides  these  two  marks  of  academic  distinction 
are  in  no  sense  of  the  word  rival  diplomas.  Young  women 
are  not  eligible  for  teaching  positions  in  boys'  schools,  and  if 
they  want  to  prepare  for  any  other  of  the  liberal  professions 
they  must  first  pass  the  regular  bachelor's  examination  as  re- 
quired of  the  boys.  There  is,  however,  a  likelihood  that 
additional  classes  may  be  established  in  some  of  the  lyc£es 
in  order  to  offer  an  opportunity  of  preparing  for  the  ordinary 
baccalaureate.1  This  would  entail  no  serious  difficulty  for 
the  science-modern  language  section.  The  absence  of  any 
Latin  instruction  in  the  girls'  schools,  however,  would  pre- 
clude the  possibility  of  giving  complete  preparation  for  any 
of  the  other  sections. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  boys'  schools,  elementary  or  preparatory 
departments  have  everywhere  been  annexed,  for  the  passage 

1  At  the  session  of  the  Superior  Council  in  July,  1906,  M.  Appell,  Dean 
of  the  Faculty  of  Science  at  the  University  of  Paris,  offered  the  following 
resolutions : 

1.  That  the  secondary  diploma  open  the  way  to  private  school  teaching 
(opening  a  boarding  or  a  day  school). 

2.  That  the  secondary  diploma  be  accepted  by  the  State  as  a  guarantee  of 
sufficient  instruction  for  admitting  the  holder  to  examinations  and  competi- 
tions for  positions  outside  the  teaching  profession,  wherever  the  primary  di- 
ploma is  required  or  confers  any  advantage  (in  the  post-office  department,  etc.). 

3.  That  preparatory  courses  for  the  baccalaureate  should  be  organized  in  a 
certain  number  of  girls'  lycees  and  colleges. 

The  permanent  section  approved  the  resolutions  with  the  reservation  that 
the  last  should  not  be  understood  as  implying  the  introduction  of  Latin  and 
Greek  into  the  girls'  curriculum,  but  simply  as  advancing  the  instruction  al- 
ready in  existence  there.  The  Minister  adopted  the  approval  of  the  section. 
Bull,  adm.,  1906,  II.,  p.  793. 

During  the  remainder  of  the  year  a  vigorous  discussion  was  carried  on  in 
the  pages  of  the  review  L'enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes  filles  on  the  equal- 
ization of  the  two  secondary  diplomas,  the  abolition  of  the  baccalaureate,  and 
kindred  subjects  suggested  by  the  above  resolutions. 

21 


322 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


from  the  public  primary  schools  to  the  girls'  secondary 
schools  does  not  exist  in  practice.     This  elementary  course 

is  arranged  by  each  directress  for  her  own 
EcTassesry     scno°l>  subject  merely  to  the  approval  of  the 

rector,  but  it  generally  conforms  very  closely 
to  the  following  type  schedule: 

WEEKLY   PROGRAM 

ELEMENTARY   CLASSES   OF   THE   GIRLS'   SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 

(Hours  per  week) 


Subjects 


French  .... 
Modern  languages 
History  .... 
Geography  .  .  . 
Arithmetic  .  .  . 
Nature  study  .  . 
Needlework  .  . 
Drawing  .... 


Infant 

class 

8-9  yrs. 


64 
2* 
1 
1 


I. 

9-10 

yrs. 


24 
1 
1 
2* 


II. 
10-11 
yrs. 


24 

1 
1 

24 

4 
* 
* 


in. 

11-12 
yrs. 


64 

24 

1 
1 

24 

4 
* 
* 


*  No  definite  amount  of  time  specified. 


This  differs  in  several  noticeable  details  from  the  corre- 
sponding program  in  the  boys'  schools :  (1)  the  late  period 
of  beginning,  eight  years  of  age  as  against  six  in  the  case  of 
the  boys  (as  a  matter  of  fact  these  are  both  reduced  about 
two  years  in  actual  practice);  (2)  the  absence  of  arithmetic 
in  the  first  year  of  the  course;  and  (3)  the  comparatively 
small  number  of  week  hours.  M.  Gr£ard  expressed  the  true 
significance  of  these  differences  very  suggestively  when  he 
said  in  another  connection :  "  Boys'  secondary  instruction  had 
its  traditions.  Girls'  secondary  education  lent  itself  much 
more  easily  to  novelties,  being  itself  a  novelty." 2  This  really 
discloses  the  secret  of  the  great  difference  between  the  pro- 


1  Greard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  I.,  p.  126. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS 


323 


gram,  the  regime,  and  the  general  spirit  pervading  the 
girls'  schools  in  contrast  to  that  which  prevails  in  the  boys' 
schools. 

The  following  are  the  subjects  of  instruction  and  the 
number  of  hours  per  week  in  the  five  years  of  the  secondary 
course  proper  under  the  present  program : J 

WEEKLY   PROGRAM 

GIRLS'  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS  —  FIRST,  SECOND,  AND  THIRD  YEARS 


Subjects 


Ethics 

French  language  and  literature 

Modern  language      

History 

Geography 

Mathematics . 

Natural  history 

Physics  and  chemistry     .    .    .    . 
Domestic  economy  and  hygiene 


Sewing    .    . 
Drawing 
Singing   .    . 
Gymnastics 


Totals 


2 

2 
1 
1* 


20£ 


Years 


II 


2 
2 
1 
1* 


20i 


III 


1 

3* 

3 

2 

1 

2 


12  lectures  of 
one  hour  each 
2  "|  (mini- 
2    I  mum 
1    j  for  each 
1*  I  year) 


21 


1  ArrUts,  July  16,  1897,  and  July  31,  1908. 


324 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


FOURTH    AND    FIFTH    YEARS 


Required  subjects 


Ethics 

Psychology  applied  to  ethics  and  educa- 
tion      

French  language  and  literature      .    .    .    . 

Ancient  literatures 

Modern  foreign  literatures       

Modern  language       

History 

Geography 


Mathematics 


Common  law 

Physics 

Physics  and  chemistry 

Animal  and  vegetable  anatomy  and  physi- 
ology, hygiene 


Years 


IV 


*  (1  hour 
for  one 
semester) 


1* 


|  (1  hour 
for  one 
semester) 


Totals 


14 


15 


Optional  subjects 


Mathematics 

Additional  modern  language 

Sewing      

Drawing       , 

Singing   ^ 

Gymnastics      

Totals 

Grand  totals    .    .    .    .    . 


2 
2 

2  (mini- 
mum) 
2       " 
1       " 
1*     " 


10* 


24* 


2 
2 

2  (mini- 
mum) 
2       " 
1       " 
1*     " 


10* 


25* 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  325 

Perhaps  the  most  striking  modification  introduced  by  this 
reform  of  1897  was  the  suppression  of  the  optional  Latin  in 
the  last  two  years  of  the  course.     Despite  the  characteristics 
radical  nature  of  the  program   in  its  earlier        of  the 
form,  the  old  spirit  of  classicism  was  not  en-        r°gram- 
tirely  eliminated,  for  Latin  was  offered  as  an  optional  subject 
one  hour  per  week  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  classes.     As  might 
have  been  expected,  the  amount  of  work  accomplished  in 
this  brief  time  was  quite  unsatisfactory,  so  that  scarcely  a 
voice  was  raised  in  protest  when  it  was  finally  abolished. 
As  the  program  stands  to-day,  it  is   essentially  "  modern," 
with  all  direct  influence  of  classic  tradition  eliminated. 

There  is,  however,  an  interesting  vestige  of  Latin  and 
Greek  culture  in  the  ancient  literature  of  the  fourth  year, 
while  the  foreign  literatures  of  the  fifth  year 
carry  this  down  to  the  present  time.  This  is  Literatures. 
an  effort  to  bring  the  pupils  in  contact  with  the 
greatest  literary  masterpieces  of  the  Greeks  and  Eomans  in 
the  ancient  world,  and  with  the  classic  writers  of  Italy, 
Spain,  England,  and  Germany  in  the  modern  world.  By 
taking  up  the  authors  in  chronological  order,  at  least  by 
countries,  the  course  serves  as  a  cursory  sketch  of  the  devel- 
opment of  literary  history.  Although  naturally  subject  to 
all  the  limitations  of  any  translation,  it  nevertheless  gives 
the  young  women  the  very  best  thought  that  the  world  has 
produced,  and  introduces  them  to  a  breadth  of  literary  culture 
that  many  of  our  own  non-classical  college  students  never 
appreciate.  The  one  hour  per  week  is  quite  inadequate  to 
cover  the  ground  satisfactorily,  but  even  with  this  short  time 
the  pupils  read  over  a  wide  field.  There  are  several  series  of 
texts  prepared  for  this  very  purpose,  all  similar  in  general 
plan.  In  one  such  series,  Attic  tragedy,  for  example,  is 
covered  in  a  single  volume  of  some  two  hundred  pages, 
containing  three  plays  of  iEschylus,  six  of  Sophocles,  and 
six  of  Euripides.  There  is  a  biographical  account  of  each 
author,  followed  by  careful  translations  of  selected  passages, 
sometimes  of  whole  scenes.      The  omissions  are  supplied  by 


326  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

brief  summaries  of  the  intervening  events,  so  that  one  is  able 
to  get  a  fair  notion  of  the  development  of  the  plot  and  the 
characters.  The  Mectra  of  Sophocles,  for  instance,  was  all 
covered  in  fourteen  pages  of  text  with  a  page  of  introduction 
on  the  play  as  a  whole.  Two  topics  I  heard  assigned  for 
the  next  lesson  were :  (1)  Compare  the  writings  of  Sophocles 
and  iEschylus ;  (2)  Differentiate  the  roles  of  the  chorus  in 
these  two  authors. 

The  following  complete  program  will  give  a  clearer 
idea  of  the  scope  of  this  subject,  the  fourth  year  being  oc- 
cupied with  the  ancient  literature  and  the  fifth  with  the 
modern : 

I.  GREEK  LITERATURE 

The  Homeric  epic :  Iliad,  Odyssey.    Hesiod. 

Lyric  poetry  (iambic,  elegiac,  ode) :   Solon,  Pindar. 

Attic  tragedy:   iEschylus,  Sophocles,  Euripides. 

Attic  comedy :  Aristophanes,  Menander. 

History:   Herodotus,  Thucydides,  Xenophon,  Polybius. 

Eloquence :   Demosthenes. 

Philosophy:   Socrates,  Plato  (Apology,  Crito,  Phozdo),  Aristotle. 

Theocritus,  Plutarch,  Lucian. 

II.  LATIN  LITERATURE 

Republic.  —  Comedy :  Plautus,  Terence.  Lucretius.  Cicero.  His- 
tory: Caesar,  Sallust. 

Empire.  —  Poetry:  Horace,  Virgil,  Lucan.  History:  Livy,  Tacitus. 
Philosophy:  Seneca.    Pliny  the  Younger.    Christian  literature. 

FOREIGN  LITERATURES 

Italy:  Dante,  Machiavelli,  Ariosto,  Tasso. 
Spain:    The  Cid  and  Romanceros.    Cervantes.    The  drama. 
England :  Shakespeare,  Milton,  Swift,  Addison,  Pope,  Byron,  Words- 
worth.   The  contemporary  novel. 

Germany:  The  Niebelungenlied.    Goethe,  Schiller. 

In  the  girls'  schools  the  term  "  modern  languages  "  signi- 
fies almost  exclusively  English  and  German.  With  the 
single  exception  of  Brest  every  one  of  the  forty-seven  lyce*es 
offers  courses  in  both   these   languages,    and   some   of  the 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  327 

schools  near  the  southern  border  offer  Italian  or  Spanish  in 
addition.1  There  are  six  schools  where  the  former  is  found, 
and  three  where  Spanish  is  given.  Using  the  number  of 
teachers  of  each  language  as  the  measure  of  its  appreciation, 
the  English  and  the  German  seem  about  equally  popular, 
with  seventy-nine  teachers  of  the  former  and  sixty-six  of 
the  latter  language  in  the  lyce'es.2  A  large  part  of  this 
difference  is  found  in  the  five  schools  in  Paris.  Outside  the 
capital  there  has  been  practically  no  relative  change  during 
the  past  eight  years.  At  that  time  the  numbers  were  respec- 
tively fifty-seven  and  forty-nine.  The  modern  language 
course  begins  in  the  infant  class  and  continues  as  an  obliga- 
tory subject  throughout  all  the  nine  years,  with  the  option  of 
taking  up  a  second  modern  language  in  the  last  two  years. 
It  follows  the  same  direct  method  of  instruction,  with  the 
principles  applied  rather  less  rigorously  than  in  the  boys' 
schools. 

Traces  of  the  concentric  circle  plan  of  studies  are  discern- 
ible  in  the    organization    of    the    history   and    geography 
courses,  but  they  are  less  pronounced  than  in     program  jn 
the  boys'  schools.     The  history  of  the  elemen-    History  and 
tary  classes  is  largely  national  biography  and       e°graP  3T- 
history  stories,  although   in  the  last   year  there  is   a  very 
summary  account  of  ancient  history   down   to   the   end  of 
the   Eoman   Empire.     In  the  secondary  course  proper,  the 
work  of   the  first  year  covers  ancient  Gaul,  and  European 
history  through  the  period  of  the  Eeformation ;  the  second 
year,  Europe  in  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries; 
the  third  year,  France,  and  a  very  little  attention  to  general 
nineteenth  century  history.     The  last  two  years,  the  period 

\ 

1  Arabic  is  taught  in  the  two  colleges  and  in  the  secondary  courses  in 
Algeria. 

2  This  basis  of  computation  unduly  favors  the  German.  No  official  figures 
are  available,  but  with  very  few  exceptions,  according  to  common  report,  the 
number  of  pupils  in  the  girls'  schools  studying  English  is  far  in  excess  of  the 
number  studying  German.  In  the  boys'  schools,  on  the  other  hand,  thanks 
to  the  requirement  in  German  for  entrance  to  the  Ecole  Polytechnique  and 
Saint-Cyr,  the  conditions  are  quite  reversed. 


328  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

that  might  almost  be  called  the  second  cycle,  are  entirely 
given  over  to  a  history  of  civilization.  The  geography  pro- 
gram follows  more  nearly  the  scheme  that  prevails  in  the 
primary  school  system:  the  first  year,  the  world  except 
Europe  and  Asia ;  the  second  year,  Asia,  and  Europe  except 
France;  the  third  year,  France  and  her  colonies.  In  the 
fourth  and  fifth  years  it  includes  physical  and  economic  geog- 
raphy, the  former  period  with  general  treatment,  the  latter 
with  detailed  consideration  of  the  various  world  powers. 

The  mathematics  program  is  not  very  extensive,  the 
required  work  being  limited  to  arithmetic  and  plane 
,  .  geometry.  There  is  a  good  deal  of  very  help- 
ful constructive  geometry  in  the  first  year  that 
not  only  paves  the  way  for  the  demonstration  work  of  the 
third  year,  but  furthermore  provides  a  thorough  drill  in  the 
application  of  the  metric  system.  The  optional  work  of 
the  last  two  years  includes  arithmetic,  a  thorough  re- 
view of  plane  geometry,  a  little  solid  geometry,  enough 
algebra  to  solve  simple  equations  of  the  first  and  second 
degree,  and  cosmography  in  its  more  apparent  phenomena. 

In  spite  of  the  thoroughly  formal  character  of  the  sewing 
in  the  girls'  schools,  they  certainly  attain  remarkably 
creditable  results.  Beginning  with  the  Froe- 
belian  exercises  of  folding,  weaving,  and  braid- 
ing in  the  infant  class,  it  continues  among  the  required 
subjects  until  the  end  of  the  third  class  of  the  secondary 
course.  In  the  elementary  section  it  is  almost  exclusively 
mere  needlework,  but  in  the  upper  classes  the  girls  design, 
cut,  and  make  articles  of  clothing  for  themselves.  I  saw 
one  girl  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  of  age  at  the  Lyc^e 
Eacine  in  Paris  who  was  wearing  a  shirt  waist  entirely  her 
own  make  that  for  fit,  finish,  and  style  would  have  done 
credit  to  a  professional  dressmaker.  Sucn  work  as  this, 
however,  is  entirely  optional  with  the  pupils.  Not  all  of 
them  have  the  skill  nor  all  of  them  the  inclination,  but  they 
are  given  every  encouragement  in  this  direction  if  they  are 
interested  enough  to,  pro  vide  their   own   material.     Other- 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  329 

wise  the  underclothes  and  the  children's  garments  that 
make  up  the  major  part  of  the  practical  work  are  sent  to  the 
various  charitable  societies  and  the  hospitals  of  the  neigh- 
borhood. The  national  economy  is  very  strongly  marked  by 
the  importance  attached  in  this  course  to  repairing.  The 
mending  of  the  French  housewife  is  really  beautiful  to  see, 
and  the  school  exercises  in  this  field  not  only  include 
plain  darning,  but  they  also  extend  to  imitating  the  knitting 
stitch  of  ordinary  underwear,  as  well  as  the  pattern  weave 
in  table  damask.  Graphic  representation  of  the  stitch  on 
paper  and  the  working  of  a  sampler  are  the  inevitable 
preliminaries  to  the  actual  work.  There  is  some  instruction 
in  machine  sewing,  but  this  is  naturally  reserved  for  the 
higher  classes. 

The  population  of  the  girls'  schools  is  drawn  from  a 
rather  more  limited  cross  section  of  society  than  is  that 
of   the  boys'   schools,   for  the  pupils   of  the    C}  f 

former  come  almost  exclusively  from  the  the  School 
middle  and  the  professional  classes.  The  upper  Population, 
middle  class  (haute  bourgeoisie)  and  the  remnants  of  the  no- 
bility send  their  daughters  to  private  schools,  while  the  lower 
classes  send  theirs  to  the  primary  schools,  where  the  tuition 
is  free.  The  consequence  is  that  the  girls'  secondary 
schools  do  practically  nothing  toward  the  recruitment  of  the 
industrial  and  the  commercial  army.  These  ranks  are  filled 
from  the  primary,  the  higher  primary,  and  the  professional 
schools.  In  these  secondary  schools  rather  more  than  half 
the  pupils  drop  out  after  the  third  class  on  completing  the 
first  cycle.  In  fact,  the  number  leaving  at  any  other  time 
than  here  and  at  the  end  of  the  whole  course  is  com- 
paratively insignificant.  It  is  impossible  to  ascertain  what 
proportion  carry  their  studies  on  beyond  the  regular  fifth 
year  of  the  course ;  there  are  no  official  figures  available, 
and  the  estimates  vary  so  widely.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that 
these  are  the  ones  that  have  to  earn  their  own  living ;  some 
turn  toward  the  university  and  the  higher  professional 
schools,  while  others  begin  their  practical  preparation  for  a' 


330  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

teaching  career.  It  is  to  satisfy  this  latter  demand  that 
some  of  the  lyc^es  have  added  the  sixth  year  which  fits 
directly  for  the  higher  normal  school  at  Sevres. 

The  whole  atmosphere  of  the  girls'  schools  is  strikingly 

different    from   that   of   the   boys'.     In  the  latter  there   is 

a  prevailing  feeling  of   repression,  of   a  lack 

Atmosphere.  °^  individual  freedom,  of  a  coldness  in  the 
very  air  itself,  of  an  ultra  barrack  room  regime 
that  more  than  one  boarding  pupil  has  found  well-nigh 
unendurable.  In  the  former,  on  the  contrary,  things  are 
light  and  cheery ;  there  are  everywhere  evidences  of  a 
cordial  good  feeling,  almost  of  comradeship,  between  the 
teachers  and  the  pupils;  the  life  at  the  school  is  freer; 
there  is  more  time  for  recreation  on  ordinary  days,  and  more 
frequent  opportunity  for  the  pupils  to  get  outside  the 
grounds.  All  in  all,  it  is  a  most  pleasing  contrast  to  the 
rigidity  of  the  regime  to  which  the  boys  are  subjected.  In 
most  of  the  schools  that  I  visited,  each  girl  had  a  room  for 
herself,  a  kind  of  cubicle,  to  be  sure,  formed  by  constructing 
a  series  of  partitions  seven  or  eight  feet  high  within  the  old- 
time  spacious  dormitories,  but  it  gives  each  one  a  sense  of 
privacy  and  individuality  that  is  not  possible  where  twenty 
or  thirty  sleep  in  a  single  large  room.  Furthermore,  each 
one  was  responsible  for  the  care  of  her  own  room,  and 
opportunity  was  freely  granted  to  decorate  it  with  cards  and 
pictures  according  to  individual  taste.  Most  of  the  schools 
still  adhere  to  the  regulation  black  pinafore,  but  occasionally 
one  finds  a  directress,  like  Mile.  Ecolan  at  Auxerre,  who 
recoils  at  the  monastic  severity  of  the  traditional  dress. 
At  Auxerre  the  girls  wear  dark  blue  in  winter,  and  in 
summer  white  aprons  large  enough  to  answer  the  purpose  of 
a  frock,  thereby  avoiding  the  sombre  similarity  of  the 
prevailing  black.  In  the  girls'  schools  as  a  whole  there  are 
evidences  of  a  consistent  attempt  at  school  decoration. 
This  same  lycee  at  Auxerre  is  noticeable  for  the  progress  in 
this  direction.  There  are  flowers  in  profusion,  and  every 
class   room  has   fine   photographic   reproductions   of    well- 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  331 

known  paintings  or  plaster  casts  of  bits  of  classic  sculpture. 
The  same  spirit  of  academic  independence,  so  to  speak, 
pervades  not  only  the  program,  but  its  application  as  well. 
In  the  boys'  schools,  even  from  the  very  start,  practically 
everything  is  focusing  upon  a  single  point  —  the  baccalaure- 
ate. This  is  the  gate  through  which  everybody  that  aspires 
to  a  professional  career  must  pass,  and  all  energies  are 
consequently  bent,  and  all  efforts  subordinated,  to  attain- 
ing this  goal.  The  certificate  at  the  end  of  the  girls' 
secondary  course,  on  the  contrary,  Occupies  no  such  domi- 
nating position.  It  is  rather  an  evidence  of  work  accom- 
plished than  a  passport  to  future  preferment. 

Since  the  organization  of  girls'  lycdes,  the  teaching  force 
has  been  composed  of  both  men  and  women.  For  a  time 
the  men  were  in  the  ascendancy  on  account  of 
the  lack  of  women  competent  to  do  the  work,  Teaching 
but  since  the  normal  school  at  Sevres  began 
sending  out  its  graduates  in  1883  the  women  have  rapidly 
overtaken  the  men,  so  that  to-day  only  thirty  of  the  one  hun- 
dred and  seventy  teachers  in  the  purely  secondary  classes 
of  the  girls'  lycees  in  the  Academy  of  Paris  are  men,  while 
the  number  for  the  rest  of  Trance  is  practically  negligible. 
The  academic  qualifications  of  the  teachers  in  the  early 
schools  were  considerably  lower  than  they  are  at  present. 
At  first  practically  the  highest  standard  attainable  was  the 
higher  diploma  (brevet  superieur)  of  the  primary  school 
system,  but  the  precaution  was  taken  of  demanding  a  con- 
siderable period  of  successful  teaching  experience  in  addi- 
tion. To-day,  as  in  the  boys'  schools,  the  aggregation  is 
required  for  appointment  as  a  regular  professor,  although 
lower  qualifications,  such  as  the  certificate  for  teaching  in 
girls'  secondary  schools,  the  master's  degree  in  letters  or 
science,  or  the  certificate  of  modern  language  teaching,  are 
accepted  for  appointment  as  acting  professors.  In  the 
colleges  the  standard  is  necessarily  somewhat  lower.  There 
is  not  the  close  specialization  in  the  girls'  schools  that  one 
finds  in  the  boys'.     When  the  competitive  examination  for 


332  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  girls'  agregation  was  instituted  in  1884,  there  were  only 
two  orders,  one  for  letters  and  the  other  for  science.  Ten 
years  later  each  of  these  was  divided  into  sections,  the  let- 
ters into  the  literary  and  the  history  sections,  and  the 
science  into  the  mathematical  and  the  physical-natural 
sciences,  but  this  was  shortly  followed  by  a  circular  in 
which  the  Minister  specifically  stated  that  an  agregee  of  one 
section  could  not  thereby  refuse  to  teach  classes  in  the  other 
section  of  the  same  order,  in  case  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation  demanded  it.1 

Hardly  had  the  law  providing  for  the  establishment  of 
girls'  secondary  schools  been  promulgated  before  the  spon- 

F  ndati  sors  °^  ^is  movement  set  about  creating  an 
of  the  School    institution  that  should  assure  the  preparation 

at  Sevres.  0f  competent  teachers  for  the  new  schools 
shortly  to  be  established.  A  new  bill  was  quickly  drafted, 
rushed  through  Parliament,  and  only  seven  months  later  the 
complementary  law  to  that  of  December,  1880,  was  placed 
upon  the  statute  books.  The  school  founded  in  pursuance 
of  this  law  was  finally  located  at  Sevres  in  the  old  eigh- 
teenth-century chateau  that  had  long  served  for  the  famous 
state  pottery  factory.  The  building  was  entirely  remodelled 
within,  and  with  its  simple  architecture,  its  spacious  park, 
its  commanding  position  overlooking  the  valley  of  the  Seine, 
with  Paris  in  the  distance,  it  serves  admirably  as  the  home 
of  the  highest  institution  in  the  land  that  is  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  the  education  of  women.  The  work  of  reconstruc- 
tion was  quickly  completed,  so  that  by  December,  1881,  the 
school  was  ready  to  receive  its  first  pupils.  The  severity  of 
the  later  competition  must  have  been  lacking  in  these  first 
entrance  examinations,  for,  in  the  words  of  one  of  the  candi- 
dates, "  the  examiners  tried  to  find  out  not  what  we  knew  — 
alas,  we  knew  so  little  !  —  but  what  we  were  worth  .  .  .  the 
chief  effort  of  these  men  seemed  to  be  to  find  questions 
which  we  could  answer.     When  our  answers  were  good  they 

1  Circ,  Aug.  17,  1884,  in  SiSe,  op.  cit.,  pp.  693-694. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  333 

were  positively  enchanted." ,  The  course  at  first  was  only 
two  years,  the  pupils  being  divided  into  two  sections,  one 
for  science  and  the  other  for  letters.  The  subjects  of  the 
former  included  mathematics,  physics,  chemistry,  natural 
history,  and  botany,  with  ethics,  literature,  elocution,  draw- 
ing, and  hygiene  occupying  a  relatively  subordinate  position. 
Those  of  the  latter  included  literature,  French,  philosophy, 
ethics,  history,  geography,  and  elocution.  The  two  sections 
had  classes  in  English  or  German,  common  law,  cutting  and 
dressmaking  in  common.  With  the  institution  of  the  new 
order  of  agregation  in  1884,  the  course  was  extended  to 
three  years,  the  examination  for  the  certificate  for  teaching 
in  girls'  secondary  schools  coming  as  before  at  the  end  of 
the  second  year  at  the  school,  and  the  agregation  at  the  end 
of  the  third  year. 

Admission  to  the  school  is  solely  by  competitive  exami- 
nation.    Applicants  must  be  French,  not  less  than  eighteen 
nor   more  than   twenty-four  years  of  age  in 
January  first  of  the  year  in  which  they  present  „  Ent.rance 

*  ill  Examination. 

themselves,  and  nobody  may  be  a  candidate 
more  than  three  times.  Besides  the  regularly  attested  legal 
papers  that  are  required  of  all  French  citizens  at  almost 
every  turn,  each  competitor  must  have  the  secondary  di- 
ploma, the  bachelor's  diploma,  or  the  higher  diploma  of  the 
primary  system.  The  examination  is  partly  written  and 
partly  oral,  the  first  or  written  part  being  held  simultane- 
ously in  each  center  of  departmental  government  throughout 
the  country.  The  papers  are  all  sent  on  to  Paris  to  be  read 
by  two  examining  boards,  one  for  letters  and  the  other  for 
science,  of  the  teachers  at  Sevres.  There  are  five  examina- 
tions for  each  section,  most  of  them  being  four  hours  in 
length.  For  the  letters  section  the  papers  are  as  follows: 
French  literature,  four  hours ;  grammar,  two  hours ;  history 
and  geography,  four  and  a  half  hours  (three  for  history,  and 
one  and  a  half  for  geography) ;  elements  of  ethics  and  psychol- 

1  Mlle.  Lejeune,  quoted  in  See,  op.  cit.,  p.  988. 


334  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

ogy  applied  to  education,  four  hours  ;  English  or  German,  four 
hours  ([1]  translation,  and  [2]  short  composition  in  the  foreign 
language  with  the  aid  of  a  dictionary  entirely  in  that  lan- 
guage). For  the  science  section  the  papers  are  as  follows  : 
arithmetic  and  geometry,  four  hours ;  physics  and  chemistry, 
four  hours  (two  and  a  half  for  physics  and  one  and  a  half  for 
chemistry) ;  natural  history,  four  hours  (two  and  a  half  for 
zoology  and  one  and  a  half  for  botany) ;  English  or  German,  as  • 
above. 

The  specific  programs  for  these  examinations  are  care- 
fully delineated  each  year  by  ministerial  order.1  In  general 
they  follow  rather  closely  upon  the  programs  of  the  last 
two  years  of  the  secondary  course,  although  a  more  mature 
handling  of  the  subject  matter  is  demanded,  the  breadth  of 
the  work  in  geometry  being  notably  more  extensive.  In  lit- 
erature, history,  geography,  ethics,  and  psychology,  these  pro- 
grams show  considerable  variation  of  topics  from  year  to 
year,  but  in  the  scientific  subjects  the  scope  is  necessarily 
less  variable.  For  example,  the  history  in  1908  was  based 
upon  Greek  civilization,  modern  European  civilization,  con- 
temporary France,  and  Germany  and  Italy  from  1848  to  1871, 
subjects  drawn  from  the  regular  programs  of  the  third, 
fourth,  and  fifth  years.  In  geography  the  topics  were :  (1) 
the  coasts  of  France ;  (2)  Italy ;  (3)  the  United  States ;  and 
(4)  the  British  Empire.  In  ethics  and  psychology  a  dozen 
or  fifteen  of  the  books  assigned  for  philosophical  reading  in 
the  philosophy  form  of  the  boys'  lyce'es  were  suggested  to 
guide  the  reading  of  these  candidates.  The  modern  language 
examination  is  based  upon  the  authors  read  in  the  fourth 
and  fifth  years  of  the  girls'  secondary  programs. 

The  results  of  these  examinations  are  sent  to  the  Minister, 
who  publishes  a  list  containing  the  names  of  the  "admis- 
sibles."  This  is  ordinarily  about  twice  as  long  as  the  final 
list  will  be.  Every  fall,  soon  after  the  opening  of  the 
academic  year,  the  Minister  issues  an  order  in  accordance 

1  See  Programmes  des  conditions  a" admission  d,  Vicole  normale  secondaire  de 
Sevres  en  1908.     Collection  Delalain,  no.  63. 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION   OF  GIRLS  335 

with  the  probable  needs  of  the  service,  specifying  exactly 
how  many  places  there  are  for  each  of  the  competitive 
examinations  for  the  coming  year.  At  Sevres  in  1907  and 
1908  there  were  sixteen  in  letters  and  fourteen  in  science, 
rather  above  the  average  for  the  last  few  years.  In  July, 
1907,  then,  thirty-two  young  women  in  letters  and  thirty-one 
in  science  were  summoned  to  the  school,  the  government 
paying  the  expenses  of  the  railroad  trip  to  Paris  and  return, 
and  allowing  them  in  addition  six  francs  per  day  during  the 
examination  period.  As  a  result  of  the  oral  examination, 
which  is  based  upon  the  same  subjects  as  the  previous 
written,  the  best  and  most  promising  candidates  are  selected 
for  appointment  to  Sevres.  They  must  contract  to  serve  in 
the  department  of  public  instruction  for  at  least  ten  years, 
or,  in  case  of  failure  so  to  do,  to  reimburse  the  State  at  the 
rate  of  one  thousand  francs  for  each  year  spent  at  school. 

Once  admitted  to  Sevres,  they  are  practically  supported  at 
government  expense  for  three  years,  provided  of  course  they 
keep  up  their  work  and  pass  the  necessary 
examinations.  They  live  at  the  school  with  ^hoof16 
no  fees  for  board,  lodging,  or  instruction,  and 
with  all  expenses  connected  therewith  defrayed.  In  distinc- 
tion from  the  practice  at  the  primary  normal  schools,  how- 
ever, they  must  furnish  their  own  clothing  and  renew  it  as 
occasion  requires.  The  life  at  the  school  certainly  ought  to 
be  delightful.  They  live  here  amid  pleasant  surroundings, 
in  a  comfortable,  homelike,  sympathetic  environment,  in  the 
midst  of  eighty  or  ninety  other  young  women  all  working 
like  themselves  toward  a  common  end,  and  each  one  can 
devote  herself  unreservedly  to  preparing  for  her  life  work. 
There  is  the  utmost  possible  freedom ;  each  student  has  her 
own  room,  which  she  decorates  and  arranges  according  to  her 
taste  and  where  she  is  as  much  at  home  as  if  she  were  with 
her  own  parents.  Judging  by  the  rooms  I  had  the  honor  of 
seeing,  the  life  here  does  not  differ  very  materially  from 
what  one  would  find  among  the  more  serious-minded  of  the 
students  at  our  American  women's  colleges.     They  are  at 


336  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

liberty  to  go  walking  if  they  choose  on  pleasant  days 
between  six  and  seven  in  the  evening  in  groups  of  not  fewer 
than  three,  while  Thursday  afternoons  and  Sundays  are  quite 
free.  Mile.  Belugou,  the  present  head  of  the  school,  is  a 
charming  woman,  vitally  and  socially  interested  in  the  per- 
sonal welfare  of  the  young  women  committed  to  her  charge, 
and  far  enough  removed  from  the  traditional  convent  regime 
to  appreciate  that  she  is  dealing  with  mature  young  women 
who  have  a  serious  purpose  in  life  and  who  no  longer  need 
to  be  kept  under  constant  surveillance. 

The  teaching  staff  falls  into  two  general  classes,  the  pro- 
fessors and  the  tutors.    The  former,  twenty-seven  in  number, 

and  all  men,  with  the  exception  of  the  two 
StaffnS      modern  language,  and  the  one  sewing  teacher, 

are  a  very  distinguished  body,  drawn  almost 
entirely  from  the  professors  at  the  Sorbonne  and  the  College 
of  France.  They  meet  their  students  ordinarily  once  a 
week  for  a  lecture  which  is  supposed  to  last  an  hour  and  a 
half,  but  which  is  sometimes  extended  to  nearly  twice  that 
length.  This  work  practically  forms  a  regular  university 
course.  In  addition  to  this  the  tutors  meet  these  same 
classes  again  during  the  week  in  order  further  to  explain 
the  lecture  work,  to  quiz  the  pupils,  to  assign  papers  to  be 
written,  and  in  general  to  supplement  the  regular  teaching. 
Since  these  tutors  are  all  women  who  live  at  the  school,  they 
are  in  position  to  be  of  constant  service  to  the  students.  In 
the  letters  section  there  is  one  tutor  for  each  of  the  first 
two  years,  while  in  the  science  there  is  one  for  each  of  the 
great  fields  of  instruction,  mathematics,  physics-chemistry, 
and  natural  history.  In  the  experimental  sciences  the  tutor 
is  in  charge  of  the  laboratory  work,  which  ordinarily  occu- 
pies one  half  day  per  week,  and  the  tutor  in  natural  history 
arranges  frequent  botanical  excursions  in  the  neighborhood. 
These  five  tutors  are  all  agregees,  chosen  from  among  the  best 
in  the  lyc^es.  The  two  modern  language  tutors,  however,  are 
not  of  the  same  rank.  They  are  prospective  teachers  in  the 
lyc^es,  young  women  who  already  possess  the  certificate  for 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  337 

modem  language  teaching  in  secondary  schools  and  who  are 
working  toward  their  agregation.  They  receive  no  salary, 
but  live  at  the  school  on  the  same  financial  basis  as  the 
students.  The  appointment  itself  carries  with  it  a  certain 
honor,  and  the  holders  have  considerable  time  to  themselves 
for  study,  and  even  for  following  courses  at  the  Sorbonne. 
They  have  no  regular  classes,  but  meet  the  students  at  table 
and  in  small  groups  of  three  or  four  for  conversation  in  the 
foreign  language.  The  fact  that  Sevres  does  not  attempt  to 
prepare  modern  language  teachers,1  and  that  the  English 
and  German  are  studied  there  purely  from  the  cultural 
point  of  view  accounts  for  the  difference  in  status  of  these 
teachers  as  compared  with  those  in  letters  or  science. 

For  each  of  the  first  two  years  all  the  letters  pupils  and 
all  the  science  pupils  have  identical  programs.  The  weekly 
schedule  on  the  following  page  will  show  this  more  in  detail. 

The  work  of  the  first  year  is  relatively  easy,  thus  giving 
the  young  women  an  opportunity  to  recover  from  the  severe 
strain  they  have  been  working  under  for  several  years  back, 
and  enabling  them  to  adapt  themselves  gradually  to  their 
new  regime.  The  work  of  the  second  year  is  determined  by 
the  program  of  the  examination  for  the  certificate  for 
teaching  in  girls'  secondary  schools.  At  this  examination 
the  normal  school  young  women  have  to  compete  against 
students  from  the  outside  who  have  been  preparing  at  private 
schools  or  even  at  the  Sorbonne  or  at  provincial  universities, 
but  it  is  perhaps  unnecessary  to  state  that  the  Sevres  pupils 
usually  head  the  list  of  successful  candidates.  In  1907 
there  were  about  a  hundred  competitors  for  the  twenty-five 
appointments  in  letters  and  the  sixteen  in  science,2  while  in 

1  Inasmuch  as  the  certificate  for  modern  language  teaching  is  the  same  for 
both  men  and  women,  the  details  for  this  examination  will  be  found  later. 
Cf.  infra,  pp.  373-374. 

2  Bull,  adm.,  1906,  II.,  p.  868.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  advantage  was  taken  of 
the  elastic  provision  in  the  Ministerial  order  allowing  for  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  places  if  the  exigencies  of  the  service  and  worth  of  the  candidates 
make  such  a  modification  desirable,  so  that  there  were  thirty-one  appoint- 
ments in  letters.     Bull,  adm.,  1907,  II.,  p.  367. 

22 


338 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


GIRLS'  NORMAL  SCHOOL  AT  SEVRES 

PROGRAM   OP   THE   FIRST   AND    SECOND   YEARS 


First  Year 

Second  Year 

Letterg 

Science 

Letters 

Science 

Monday  a.  m. 

Geography 
(every  two 
weeks) 

Elocution 

Sewing 

Elocution 
(every 
two  weeks) 
History 

Chemistry 

P.  M. 

English  or 

German 

Literature 

Tuesday  a.  m. 

Physics 

Ethics 

Ethics 

P.  M. 

Literature 

History 
(first  third 
of  the  year) 

Mathematics 

Wednesday 
a.  m. 

History 
(second 
third  of  the 
year) 

Botany 

P.  M. 

Grammar 

Mathematics 

Grammar 

Thursday 

A.  M. 

Sewing 

Chemistry 

History 

Friday  a.  m. 

History 

Natural  history 

Literature 

Physics 

P.  M. 

Literature 
(every  two 

English  or 
German 

Geography 

English  or 
German 

weeks) 

Literature 
(every  two 
weeks) 

Literature 
(every  two 
weeks) 

Saturday 

A.  M. 

English  or 
German 

Mathematics 

English  or 
German 

Natural 
history 

P.  M. 

Psychology 

Psychology 

Mathematics 

THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  339 

1908  the  number  of  applicants  was  considerably  greater  with 
no  increase  in  the  number  of  places.  In  case  a  normal 
school  student  is  not  successful,  however,  she  loses  her 
appointment  and  is  obliged  to  leave  the  school  to  begin 
teaching  at  once  in  one  of  the  provincial  colleges.  The  few 
that  are  thus  unfortunate  usually  come  back  after  two  or 
three  years  to  try  the  examination  again.  If  successful  this 
time,  they  are  reappointed  for  their  third  year  at  the  school. 
The  examination  for  the  certificate  for  teaching  in  girls' 
secondary  schools  is  a  competitive  examination,1  partly 
written  and  partly  oral,  according  to  the  usual 

.  .        .  Certificate  for 

fashion.  The  written  examinations  are  held  Teaching  in 
annually  in  the  department  centers ;  the  orals  Girls'  Second- 
are always  at  Paris.  There  are  four  papers  for  ary 
each  of  the  two  sections,  letters  and  science,  with  four  hours 
allowed  for  each.  The  letters  papers  are  :  (1)  a  literary  or  a 
grammatical  subject ;  (2)  ethics  or  psychology  applied  to 
education;  (3)  history;  (4)  a  modern  language  (English, 
German,  Italian,  Spanish,  or  Arab,  translation  into  French 
and  into  the  language .  chosen).  The  science  papers  are : 
(1)  mathematics ;  (2)  physics  and  chemistry ;  (3)  natural 
sciences  ;  (4)  literature  or  ethics.  For  the  oral  examination 
various  periods  from  half  an  hour  to  three  hours  are  allowed 
for  preparation  of  the  subject  after  the  topic  is  assigned.  The 
response  is  thus  in  some  cases  practically  a  short  lecture 
before  the  examining  jury.  The  subjects  for  the  letters 
examination  are:  (1)  reading  a  selection  in  French,  with 
historical,  grammatical,  and  literary  commentary ;  (2)  devel- 
opment of  a  topic  in  history  or  geography ;  (3)  questions  on 
the  subject  not  assigned  in  (2)  ;  (4)  questions  on  ethics  and 
the  methods  of  education  and  instruction ;  (5)  interpretation 
of  a  modern  language  selection,  followed  by  questions  asked 
and  answered  in  that  language.  The  oral  examination  for 
the  science  candidates  covers  the  strictly  scientific  subjects 
in  the  written,  together  with  a  modern  language  examination 

1  See  Appendix  K  for  the  program  of  this  examination    for  the  letters 
section  in  1908. 


340  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

as  in  the  letters  section,  and  the  interpretation  of  a  bit  of 
literature.  The  various  subjects  of  the  examination  are  not 
all  equally  important.  They  are  weighted  with  certain  co- 
efficients, the  final  mark  for  each  subject  being  obtained  by 
multiplying  the  mark  actually  received  on  the  examination 
by  the  coefficient  for  this  particular  subject.  For  the  letters 
section  the  written  and  the  oral  examinations  in  modern 
languages  are  each  weighted  at  three,  while  for  each  of  the 
other  examinations  the  coefficient  is  five.  In  other  words, 
the  modern  language  is  relatively  only  three  fifths  as  impor- 
tant as  is  each  of  the  other  subjects  of  the  examination.  In 
the  science  section  the  mathematics  coefficients  are  five,  the 
physics  and  chemistry,  four,  the  natural  science,  three,  the 
literature  or  ethics,  two,  and  the  modern  language  only  one. 

Once  safely  through  the  examination  for  the  certificate, 
the  student  settles  down  for  her  final  year's  work,  the  prep- 
aration for  the  agregation,  the  highest  diploma 
Ye™  Work,  required  of  secondary  teachers.  At  this  point 
the  letters  students  are  subdivided  into  two 
groups:  (1)  those  preparing  for  the  agregation  in  literature; 
and  (2)  those  preparing  for  the  agregation  in  history.  The 
science  students  are  likewise  divided  into  the  mathematics 
and  the  natural  science  groups.  Thus  each  one  is  able  to 
concentrate  her  attention  almost  exclusively  upon  the  sub- 
jects of  the  examination  that  is  awaiting  her  at  the  end 
of  the  year. 

The  program  for  this  third  year  at  Sevres  is  found  on  the 
following  page. 

In  the  letters  section  the  students  take  either  literature 
and  grammar,  or  history  and  geography,  according  to  the  agre- 
gation they  are  seeking,  but  they  have  all  the  other  subjects 
in  common ;  while  in  the  science  section,  history  of  art  and 
common  law  are  optional,  ethics  and  literature  are  pursued 
by  both  groups  alike,  and  the  line  of  cleavage  runs  between 
the  mathematics  on  the  one  side,  and  the  physical  and  nat- 
ural sciences  on  the  other.  The  training  during  this  last  year 
is  partly  a  continuation  of  the  lecture  method  of  the  two 


THE  PUBLIC  EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  341 

GIRLS'  NORMAL  SCHOOL  AT  SEVRES 

PROGRAM  OF  THE  THIRD  YEAR 


Letters 

Science 

Monday  a.  m. 

P.  M. 

Ethics 

Elocution  (every  two 

weeks) 
English  or  German 

Ethics 
Chemistry 

Tuesday  a.  m. 

P.  M. 

History  of  art 

Common  law 
History  (second  half 
year) 

History  of  art 

(optional) 
Common  law  (optional) 
Physics 

Wednesday  a.m. 

P.  M. 

Literature 
Grammar 

Mathematics 

Thursday  a.  m. 

History  (first  third  of 
the  year) 

Friday  a.  m. 

P.  M. 

Literature 
Geography 
English  or  German 

Mathematics 
Botany 

Natural  history 
Literature  (every  two 
weeks) 

Saturday  a.  m. 

History 

previous  years  and  partly  a  series  of  lessons  prepared  by  the 
students  for  presentation  to  their  classmates  following  as 
nearly  as  possible  the  general  method  of  procedure  they 
would  use  before  a  lyc^e  class.  The  number  of  these  lectures, 
for  that  is  practically  what  they  are,  naturally  depends  upon 
the  size  of  the  class  and  the  attitude  of  the  teacher,  but 
probably  in  no  case  exceeds  four  or  five  during  the  year,  not 
a  very  extensive  amount  of  even  semi-practical  work.  The 
lesson  is  criticised  by  the  professor  in  charge  of  the  course 
immediately  following  its  presentation.  As  class  room  expe- 
rience, this  really  counts  for  very  little,  for  its  value  has 
been  thoroughly  emasculated  by  the  absence  of  real  second- 
ary pupils.  Some  of  the  students  come  a  little  nearer  prac- 
tical teaching  in  tutoring  backward  pupils  at  the  near-by  lycde 
at  Versailles.     Such  work,  however,  is  entirely  unofficial ;  it 


342  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

forms  no  regular  part  of  the  training  at  the  school ;  and  it  is 
entirely  a  personal  matter  between  the  directress  of  the  lyc£e 
and  the  individual  students.  The  latter  naturally  welcome 
this  opportunity,  for  not  only  is  it  an  honor  to  be  selected, 
but  furthermore  they  are  paid  by  the  lyce'e  for  the  tutoring 
they  do. 

The  year  1907-1908  witnessed  the  commencement  of  real 
practice  teaching,  an  innovation  at  Sevres,  but  an  experience 
that  has  already  been  required  for  many  years 
Teaching.      at  ttie  JounS  men's  normal  school.     The  stu- 
dents at  Sevres  were  sent  to  the  girls'  lycdes  in 
Paris.     The  work  was  begun  so  late  in  the  year  that  each 
student  had  only  about  half  a  dozen  lessons.     It  is  conse- 
quently impossible  to  judge  of  the  success  of  the  scheme.     It 
is  reasonable  to  suppose,  however,  that  it  will  be  continued, 
and  that  successful  experience  of  this  sort  will  eventually 
become   one   of    the   prerequisities    for   candidacy   for  the 
agregation. 

The  examinations  for  the  agregation,  like  those  at  the  end 

of  the  second  year  for  the  secondary  certificate,  are  competitive, 

with  a  very  limited  number  of  appointments.1 

The  rp^  num|3er  0f  candidates  is  likewise  limited, 

Agregation.  * 

for  only  holders  of  the  secondary  certificate  or 
the  master's  degree  are  eligible,  and  these  in  turn,  especially 
as  far  as  the  possessors  of  the  secondary  certificate  are  con- 
cerned, represent  the  survival  of  the  fittest  after  a  series  of 
selections.  The  written  examinations  are  held  simultaneously 
at  various  centers  all  over  France.  For  the  letters  candidates 
these  are  three  in  number,  one  in  ethics  or  education,  four 
hours,  and  one  in  a  modern  language,  two  hours,  both  required 
of  all  candidates,  with  an  additional  literary  paper,  four  hours, 
for  the  letters  section,  and  a  history  paper,  four  hours,  for  the 
history  section.     On  the  science  side  there  is  likewise  an  ex- 

1  For  1908  the  number  of  appointments  in  letters  was  thirteen  (nine  for  the 
letters  section,  and  four  for  the  history  section)  ;  in  science,  eleven  (five  in 
mathematics,  and  six  in  physical  and  natural  sciences  ).  Bull,  adm.,  1907,  II., 
p.  607. 


THE  PUBLIC   EDUCATION  OF  GIRLS  343 

amination  in  ethics  or  education  for  all  candidates,  and  two 
papers,  one  in  arithmetic  and  algebra,  and  one  in  geometry 
and  cosmography  for  the  mathematics  section.  The  physical 
and  natural  science  sections  also  have  two  additional  papers, 
one  in  physics  and  one  in  natural  science.  All  the  written 
papers  for  the  science  students  are  four  hours  in  length.  The 
oral  examinations,  held  only  at  Paris,  resemble  those  for  the 
secondary  certificate  already  described.  All  the  letters  can- 
didates have  one  in  a  modern  language,  with  twenty  minutes 
for  preparation.  The  special  examinations,  essentially  lessons 
as  they  would  be  taught  before  a  class,  consist  of  one  each 
in  literature,  ethics,  and  grammar  for  the  letters  section,  and 
one  in  history  and  one  in  geography  for  the  history  section. 
From  one  to  three  hours  are  allowed  for  the  preparation  of 
each  of  these  lessons,  and  a  half  hour  for  the  presentation. 
The  mathematics  candidates  have  one  lesson  in  each  of  the 
two  groups  of  subjects  indicated  for  their  written  examina- 
tion ;  while  the  physical  and  natural  science  candidates  have 
one  in  physics,  one  in  chemistry,  and  one  in  natural  science. 
They  have  three  hours  apiece  for  the  preparation,  and  three 
quarters  of  an  hour  for  the  presentation  of  these  topics. 

Such,  in  brief,  is  the  preparation  for  teaching  in  girls'  second- 
ary schools.  The  examinations  have  occupied  a  relatively 
large  place  in  this  account,  but  they  likewise     ^  ~ 

&r  i-ii  i-  i  Refinement 

occupy  a  relatively  large  and  important  place  in  of  the 
the  preparation  itself.  The  prospective  teacher  Product. 
is  constantly  confronted  by  examinations ;  she  meets  them  at 
every  turn,  with  every  one  carefully  prescribed  as  to  eligi- 
bility conditions,  requirements,  and  scope.  To  one  who  is  ac- 
customed to  the  free  and  easy  ways  of  entering  the  teaching 
ranks  in  America,  the  whole  system  seems  remarkably  formal 
and  unnecessarily  complicated,  but  the  survivors  represent  a 
highly  refined  product,  one  which  on  the  academic  side,  at 
least,  could  with  difficulty  be  improved  upon.  We  have  seen 
that  the  specialization  has  gradually  become  narrower  and 
narrower  as  the  student  advanced,  until  at  length  it  is  con- 
fined almost  exclusively  to  the  subjects  she  intends  to  teach. 


344  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Such  specialization  is  of  course  possible  only  in  a  highly  or- 
ganized system  under  a  central  control  like  that  which  exists 
in  France,  but  it  certainly  produces  a  body  of  teachers  of  a  high 
degree  of  intelligence  and  eminently  qualified  for  the  work 
they  have  to  do,  a  body  of  teachers  who  must  bear  the  brunt 
of  the  burden  in  realizing  the  conviction  that  M.  Lavisse  had 
in  mind  when  he  said : *  "  Thus  France  has  need  of  all  her 
children.  The  time  is  passed  when  we  can  afford  to  scorn 
the  assistance  of  the  half  of  France." 

1  Lavisse,  Address  at  the  Trocadero,  May,  1907,  in  L'enseignement  desjeunes 
filles,  1907,  I.,  p.  287. 


CHAPTEK   XV 

THE  HIGHER  NORMAL  SCHOOL  AND  THE 
TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS 

Although  it  is  now  almost  exactly  one  hundred  years  since 
the  professional  training  of  secondary  teachers  has  been  a 
reality  in  France,  even  at  the  time  of  the 
Normal  School  of  the  Convention,  this  idea  f^Francf 
was  by  no  means  new.  As  early  as  1645  the 
rector  of  the  university,  Dumonstier,  had  proposed  to  "  train 
up  at  university  expense  a  certain  number  of  promising  chil- 
dren (en/ants  de  bonne  esperance)  who  could  thereby  become 
regents  or  preceptors," *  but  the  suggestion  does  not  appear 
even  to  have  been  discussed.  The  expulsion  of  the  Jesuits 
from  France  in  1762,  depriving  the  country  as  it  did  of  a 
large  part  of  its  secondary  teaching  force,  necessitated  a 
thorough  reorganization  of  the  existing  educational  system, 
and  plans  for  such  a  reform  were  reported  in  several  of  the 
provincial  parliaments.2  Kolland,  in  following  out  the  sug- 
gestions of  Abbe"  Pelissier,  was  especially  specific  in  his  de- 
mands for  the  establishment  of  institutions  in  connection 
with  each  university  for  the  preparation  of  young  men  for 
the  teaching  profession.3     The  most  that  resulted  from  this 

1  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris,  p.  157.  Dupuy,  Le  centen- 
naire  de  l'6cole  nomrnale,  p.  8,  cites  other  more  successful  efforts  during  the 
seventeenth  century. 

2  Cf.  La  Chalotais,  Plan  d'tducation  ou  d'ttudes  pour  la  jeunesse  [in 
Brittany],  1763. 

Guyton  de  Morveatt,  M€moire  sur  I Education  publique,  avcc  le  prospectus 
d'un  college  suivant  les  principes  de  cet  ouvrage  [in  Burgundy],  1764. 
Rolland,  Compte  rendu  aux  Chambres  assemblers,  Paris,  1768. 
8  Ibid.,  pp.  59-68. 


346  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

general  interest  was  the  establishment  of  agregations  in  phi- 
losophy, rhetoric,  and  grammar  in  1766.  In  the  meantime 
the  training  school  idea  had  already  become  firmly  estab- 
lished on  the  other  side  of  the  Ehine,  thanks  to  the  efforts 
of  Francke,  Felbiger,  Basedow,  and  their  successors,  whence 
it  was  destined  to  exert  a  powerful  influence  on  the  subse- 
quent plans  of  the  Convention  leaders.  M.  Dupuy1  has 
traced  very  clearly  and  convincingly  the  channels  through 
which  this  Teutonic  influence  spread  to  France  and  finally 
bore  fruit  in  the  Normal  School  of  the  year  III.,  or  Normal 
School  of  the  Convention.  This  first  real  but  short-lived 
normal  school  in  France  was  in  existence  only  through  the 
spring  months  of  1795,2  and  its  formative  influence  was  prac- 
ticably negligible.  Although  the  present  school  held  a  cen- 
tennial celebration  in  1895,  this  was  really  a  little  premature, 
for  the  only  thing  in  common  between  the  existing  institution 
and  the  revolutionary  experiment  was  the  name.  The  earlier 
school  was  intended  to  train  teachers  of  teachers,  but  at  its 
close  left  nothing  to  posterity  but  a  tradition. 

The  present  Higher  Normal  School,  to  give  its  official  title, 
in  reality  dates  from  Napoleon's  founding  of  the  University. 
The  School     ^he  decree  °f  1808 8  provided  for  "  the  estab- 
of  the  First     lishment  of  a  normal  boarding  school  intended 
mpire.       ^Q  acc0mmodate  as   many  as   three   hundred 
young  men,  who  should  there  be  trained  in  the  art  of  teach- 
ing the  letters  and  the  sciences."    Thus  Napoleon,  with  char- 
acteristic  foresight,  planned  for  training  the  teachers  and 
administrative  officers  of  the  educational  institutions  called 
into  existence  in  consequence  of  this  same  imperial  fiat.     In 
some  respects  the  new  school  which  was  opened  in  1810  re- 
sembled the  school  of  the  present  day  rather  than  the  one 
in  existence  before  the  reform  of  1903,  for  it  was  closely 
affiliated  with  the  College  of  France,  the  £cole  Polytechnique, 
and  the  Natural  History  Museum,  and  in  1810  was  made  an 

1  Dupuy,  op.  cit,  pp.  22-32. 

2  Of.  supra,  p.  62. 

8  Ddcret,  March  17,  1808,  art.  110. 


THE  TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  347 

annex  of  the  faculties.  The  students  of  the  school  registered 
with  and  followed  the  courses  of  three  professors  in  the  fac- 
ulty of  arts  or  the  faculty  of  science,  according  to  the  sub- 
jects they  were  preparing  to  teach.1  This  university  work 
was  supplemented  by  conferences  and  quizzes  at  the  school 
in  charge  of  the  tutors,  which  assumed,  during  the  last  months 
of  the  course,  the  form  of  lectures  by  the  students  themselves, 
intended  to  demonstrate  their  teaching  ability.  Under  this 
plan  the  academic  training  was  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  the 
professors  of  the  faculties  at  the  university,  while  the  pro- 
fessional was  intrusted  to  the  tutors  at  the  school  itself. 
The  academic  standard  of  the  school  was  considerably  lower 
than  it  is  at  present,  for  in  those  early  days  the  students  came 
up  for  the  bachelor's  examination  at  the  end  of  the  first  year, 
and  for  the  master's  at  the  end  of  the  second,  failure  in  the 
former  case  entailing  forfeiture  of  the  appointment.  The  ten 
best  students  were  allowed  to  remain  a  third  year,  in  order 
still  further  to  perfect  themselves  for  their  profession.  They 
were  immediately  given  the  title  of  agrege,  ordinarily  granted 
only  to  the  lower  masters  in  the  lyc£es  and  the  regents  of  the 
colleges  after  competitive  examination,  and  they  served  as  tu- 
tors for  the  other  classes.  During  the  two  years  of  the  course 
the  student  lived  at  the  school  at  government  expense.  This 
included  board,  lodging,  and  ordinary  university  charges,  but 
examination  and  diploma  fees  as  well  as  expenses  for  books, 
paper,  ink,  and  pens  were  at  their  own  charge.  This,  then, 
was  the  real  beginning  of  the  present  school.  The  entrance 
was  entirely  dependent  upon  competitive  examination;  the 
function  of  the  school  was  to  recruit  the  teaching  force  in 
the  secondary  schools ;  and  the  number  of  intrants  was  de- 
termined each  year  in  accordance  with  the  probable  needs' 
of  the  lyc^es  and  the  colleges.  These  characteristics  have 
been  retained  until  the  present  day. 

Although   the   Napoleonic  university   would   have  been 
shorn  of  much  of  its  power  had  the  ordinance  of  February, 

1  Statut,  March  30,  1810,  §  III.     Recueil  de  lois  et  reglements  concernant 
V instruction  publique,  V.,  pp.  172-175. 


348  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

1815,  ever  been  enforced,  the  Normal  School  was  left  in  un- 
disturbed possession  of  its  former  prerogatives.     Its  course 

would  even  have  been  augmented  by  an  addi- 
Under  the     tional  year,  the  aggregation  being  conferred  by  the 

Koyal  Council  of  Public  Instruction  after  ex- 
amination at  the  completion  of  the  third  year.  The  value  of 
this  distinction,  nevertheless,  had  been  considerably  cheap- 
ened by  the  abolition  of  the  competitive  examination,  espe- 
cially since  it  could  also  be  granted  to  ordinary  teachers  in 
the  lycdes  and  colleges  after  five  years  of  service  provided 
they  were  willing  to  assume  the  obligations  toward  the  uni- 
versity that  were  imposed  upon  the  normal  school  students, 
that  is,  to  contract  to  teach  for  ten  years.1  Toward  the  close 
of  1815,  however,  there  was  a  radical  change  in  the  course, 
whereby  it  was  definitely  lengthened  to  three  years,  with  the 
subject  matter  of  the  first  year  common  to  letters  and  science 
students  alike.  This  extra  year  in  a  way  preceded  the  old 
course,  for  the  work  consisted  in  a  review  of  the  ground 
previously  covered  in  the  college  (the  lycees  at  that  time 
were  called  royal  colleges),  together  with  a  course  in  logic, 
and  one  in  mathematics.  The  normal  students  were  required 
to  pass  the  baccalaureate  in  letters  at  the  end  of  the  first  year ; 
those  in  science  to  pass  the  baccalaureate  in  science  at  the 
end  of  the  second  year  (the  letters  degree  was  prerequisite) ; 
and  all  had  to  pass  the  master's  examination  at  the  end  of 
the  third  year.  The  privilege  of  the  former  complementary 
year  was  still  retained  as  an  additional  incentive  for  the  ten 
best  students.  The  school  for  the  first  time  appears  to  stand 
forth  as  a  separate  institution,  and  to  assume  some  of  that 
independence  that  characterized  its  position  for  the  last  half 
of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  courses  given  by  the  profes- 
sors of  the  two  university  faculties  play  but  a  relatively 
small  part  in  the  work  of  the  school,  the  greater  part  of  the 
instruction  being  given  at  the  school  itself,  and  under  the 
control  of  the  director.  In  those  days  the  school  year  was 
long  and  strenuous,  for  "  it  opened  the  second  day  of  Novem- 

1  ArrSte,  Nov.  30,  1814,  ibid.,  p.  518. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  349 

ber  and  continued  without  interruption  until  the  fifteenth  of 
September."  Even  during  the  short  vacation  which  followed 
there  was  little  chance  of  the  students  acquiring  habits  of 
indolence.  Before  they  left  the  school,  they  were  given  a 
list  of  topics  for  the  fourth  quarter  upon  which  they  would 
be  examined  on  their  return  at  the  opening  of  the  year.1 
The  internal  regulations  of  this  same  period, 2  which  repro- 
duced almost  exactly  the  prescriptions  of  1810,  are  interest- 
ing at  this  distance,  but  they  must  have  been  decidedly 
irksome  to  the  young  men  of  eighteen  or  twenty  who  were 
subjected  to  them. 

§  42.  "  When  a  student  has  obtained  permission  to  go  to 
another's  room,  the  door  must  remain  open  all  the  time  he  is 
there." 

§  43.  "  While  the  students  are  in  their  rooms,  the  key  must  be 
on  the  outside"  (as  the  regulation  of  1810  added,  "in  order  that 
the  surveillant  may  enter  as  often  as  he  deems  it  necessary"). 

§  44.  "  There  is  never  a  fire  in  the  private  rooms ;  but  during 
the  severe  weather  the  students  may  study  in  the  hall  of  their 
division  which  is  warmed  by  a  stove." 

§  56.  "  The  students  are  allowed  to  go  out  alone  once  a  month." 
(This  last  indicates  enormous  progress  since  1810,  for  then  such 
permission  was  never  granted.) 

During  this  same  period  the  letters  students  came  up  for 
the  master's  degree  at  the  end  of  the  second  year,  and  shortly 
afterward,  1821,  the  third  year  for  these  same  . 

students  became  specifically  the  preparation  for 
the  agregation.  There  were  then  three  orders :  (1)  in  science ; 
(2)  in  the  advanced  classes  in  letters ;  and  (3)  in  grammar. 
For  the  first  two  of  these  competitions,  the  master's  degree 
in  the  corresponding  faculty  was  prerequisite,  while  for  the 
agregation  in  grammar  the  simple  bachelor's  degree  sufficed. 

One  of  the  early  acts  of  the  ultra-catholic  reaction  that 
grew  stronger  and  stronger  as  the  third  decade  of  the  nine- 

1  Btglement,  Dec.  5,  1815,  ibid.,  VI.,  p.  75. 

2  Reglement,  Dec.  14,  1815,  ibid,,  VI.,  pp.  75-90. 


350  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

teenth  century  progressed  was  the  suppression  of  the  normal 
school.  The  royal  ordinance  says  with  legal  bluntness : 
Q  .         , "  The  great   Normal   School  at  Paris  is  sup- 

Suppression  and  °     ,  * 

Ee-creation  of  pressed ;  it  will  be  replaced  by  the  partial  nor- 
the  School.  ma]_  g^oojg  0f  ^q  academies." *  These  so-called 
partial  normal  schools  which  had  been  ordered  established 
the  year  before  in  Paris  and  at  the  various  academy  seats 
were  nothing  more  than  appendages  of  the  colleges.  The 
number  of  students  in  each  "school"  was  limited  to  eight, 
with  a  four-year  course  which  in  reality  could  have  carried  the 
pupils  but  little  beyond  the  ordinary  course,  for  pupils  were 
eligible  to  compete  for  the  appointments  after  completing  the 
third  form.  They  were  to  remain  two  years  longer  in  the  capa- 
city of  study-room  masters.  The  inadequacy  of  this  prepara- 
tion, especially  in  contrast  with  the  work  that  had  been  done  at 
the  Paris  school,  at  once  becomes  apparent,  so  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  after  a  brief  interval,  which  in  reality  was  no 
experiment  at  all,  for  the  schools  were  not  put  in  practice, 
a  substitute  for  the  normal  school  was  established  in  the 
"  preparatory  school "  attached  to  the  College  Louis-le-Grand 
in  Paris.2  Placed  under  the  direction  of  the  head  master  of 
the  college,  this  school  reproduced  some  of  the  characteris- 
tics of  the  earlier  school  of  1810,  for  the  course  was 
practically  reduced  to  two  years,  and  the  major  part  of  the 
instruction  was  given  at  the  university.  Four  years  later 
under  the  new  government,  its  old  name  was  restored,  to  be 
changed  in  1845  to  its  present  official  title,  Higher  Normal 
School. 

Shortly  after  the  advent  of  the  July  Monarchy  in  1830, 

the  school  was  thoroughly  reorganized  and  soon  assumed 

Assumes  a     the  general   type  form   that  existed   prior   to 

Permanent     1903.     The  length  of  the  regular  course  was 

fixed    at    three    years ;  the    courses    of    the 

literary  and  scientific  sections  were  distinct  from  the  outset ; 

the  master's  examination  came  ordinarily  at  the  conclusion 

1  Ordonnance  du  Boi,  Sept.  6, 1822.  Recueil  de  lois  et  reglemens,  VII.,  p.  205, 

2  Arrete,  Sept.  5,  1826.     Recueil  de  lois  et  reglemens,  VIII.,  p.  79, 


THE   TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  351 

of  the  first  year's  work,  although  the  student  was  allowed 
until  the  end  of  the  second  year  in  which  to  pass  it ;  the 
third  year  constituted  a  special  preparation  for  the  par- 
ticular aggregation  the  student  had  in  mind  together  with  a 
kind  of  practical  work.  Since  1828  there  had  been  four 
orders  of  agregation:  (1)  letters;  (2)  philosophy;  (3) 
grammar ;  and  (4)  sciences.  The  agregation  in  history  was 
added  at  this  time,  and  two  years  later  the  science  agrega- 
tion was  resolved  into  the  mathematics  and  the  physics- 
natural  science  divisions.  After  the  reform  of  1830,  when 
the  school  once  more  became  independent,  its  relations  with 
the  faculties  became  more  and  more  attenuated,  particularly 
as  regards  the  letters  section,  although  this  transition  took 
place  more  slowly  in  the  case  of  the  scientific  students, 
largely  on  account  of  the  inadequate  opportunities  at  the 
school  for  instruction  of  that  character.  A  noteworthy 
innovation  was  introduced  in  the  spring  of  1839.1  Tha 
"practical  work"  of  1830  became  a  reality,  and  the  third- 
year  students  were  sent  out  into  the  lycees  for  six  or  eight 
weeks  of  contact  with  real  school  conditions.  How  much 
actual  teaching  they  did,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing, 
but  the  same  order  of  the  Council  authorized  them  to  act  as 
substitutes  for  the  regular  teachers  who  were  detached  for 
other  service  during  the  period  of  the  general  prize  compe- 
titions. Another  innovation  that  followed  a  few  years 
later  was  the  beginning  of  modern  language  instruction, 
a  chair  of  German  being  established  in  1841  and  one  in 
English  in  1846.  The  reactionary  period  about  the  middle 
of  the  nineteenth  century,  marked  by  the  passage  of  the 
odious  Falloux  Law,  was  fraught  with  significant  modifica- 
tions in  the  regime  of  the  normal  school.  Much  of  the 
ground  gained  since  1830  was  rapidly  lost.  The  change  of 
ministry  in  1856,  however,  brought  a  turn  for  the  better. 
Things  gradually  resumed  their  former  shape,  so  that  with 
the  restoration  of  the  agregation  in  philosophy  in  1863  (the 
decree  of  1852  had  reduced  the  number  of  agregations  to 

.  *  Arrit6,  Aug.  14,  1838,  Bulletin  universitaire,  1838,  p.  353. 


352  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

two,  one  for  letters  and  the  other  for  science)  most  of  the 
old  conditions  were  re-established.  In  1869  the  passage  of 
the  master's  examination  became  a  definite  requirement  for 
the  end  of  the  first  year,  and  at  the  same  time  the  normal 
graduates  were  relieved  of  their  previous  requirement  of  the 
three-year  teaching  period  before  being  eligible  to  compete 
for  the  agregation.  This  last  examination  was  thrown  open 
to  them  immediately  upon  completing  their  course  at 
the  school.  From  this  period  until  the  reorganization  in 
1903  the  school  was  in  a  state  of  relatively  stable  equi- 
librium. The  rigorous  discipline  was  gradually  modified, 
and  the  regime  of  the  school  became  comparatively  liberal. 

In  the  meantime  the  Higher  Normal  School  had  come 
to   occupy   a   unique   position    in   the   educational    world. 

Germany    was    definitely   training   secondary 
Reform.       teachers,  but  training  them  professionally,  at 

least,  in  a  few  selected  Gymnasien,  while 
England  and  the  United  States  were  doing  little  or  nothing 
of  a  similar  nature,  at  least  nothing  worthy  to  be  ranked 
with  the  efforts  of  Germany  and  France.  Here,  then,  was  a 
secondary  normal  school  that  combined  within  its  own  walls 
the  high  specialized  academic  training  of  the  German 
universities  with  the  subsequent  purely  professional  training. 
To  a  large  extent,  however,  it  was  paralleling  the  work 
of  the  Sorbonne,  although  it  was  handling  a  smaller  and 
more  select  class  of  students.  Its  courses  prepared  for  the 
master's  degree,  the  university  courses  prepared  for  the 
master's  degree ;  the  normal  school  prepared  for  the  agrega- 
tion examinations,  the  university  did  likewise.  Under  the 
circumstances  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  the  Parliament 
began  to  question  the  necessity  of  continuing  an  institution 
that  was  costing  the  State  more  than  half  a  million  francs  per 
year.1  This  parallelism  had  not  been  of  long  standing,  be- 
cause for  many  years  the  normal  school  had  borne  the  brunt 
of  the  burden  of  preparing  young  men  for  the  master's  degree 
and  for  the  agregation,  but  from  the  period  of  the  university 

1  Cf.  Rapport  du  budget,  1903,  p.  82. 


THE    TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  353 

reform  of  the  early  eighties,  especially  since  the  two  score 
yearly  graduates  of  the  school  were  no  longer  sufficient 
to  supply  the  needs  of  the  rapidly  expanding  system 
of  secondary  education,  all  this  had  begun  to  change.  The 
opportunities  at  the  Sorbonne  widened ;  courses  were  estab- 
lished there  which  prepared  directly  for  the  examinations 
for  the  master's  degrees  and  the  aggregations  ;  the  university 
students  often  competed  successfully  against  the  normal 
students,  so  much  so  that  in  1901  the  former  won  thirty- 
nine  of  the  eighty  agregations  as  against  only  twenty-two 
for  the  latter,1  whereas  when  the  preparation  of  these  same 
students  began  three  years  before  that  time  the  most 
promising  had  been  appointed  to  the  normal  school,  while 
many  of  their  unsuccessful  rivals  had  enrolled  in  the 
university  courses.  In  the  interim  changes  had  naturally 
taken  place,  so  that  at  the  time  of  the  agregation  examina- 
tion the  conditions  were  somewhat  reversed.  Even  then  the 
normal  students  won  out,  as  they  always  do,  in  the  per  cent 
of  successful  candidates.  For  some  years  previous  there  had 
been  a  decided  difference  of  opinion  in  the  teaching  ranks 
themselves  as  to  the  efficacy  of  professional  training. 
Indeed  no  less  distinguished  a  person  than  Fustel  de 
Coulanges  himself,  the  director  of  the  normal  school  from 
1880  to  1883,  had  declared :  "  It  is  useless  to  learn  to 
teach."  The  testimony  of  his  successor,  the  late  director  of 
the  school  before  the  Eibot  Commission  in  1899,  reflected  a 
somewhat  similar  feeling,  although  M.  Perrot  couched  his 
conviction  in  more  veiled  terms.2  In  view  of  such  expres- 
sions on  the  part  of  its  directors,  it  is  not  surprising  that 
the  normal  school  was"  giving  itself  almost  exclusively  over 
to  purely  academic  culture,  the  professional  training  having 
become  practically  insignificant.  The  six  or  eight  weeks 
of  lyce*e  experience  of  1838  had  long  since  been  reduced  to  a 
paltry  two  weeks,  and  even  this  was  most  superficially  done. 

1  Lanson,  La  reorganisation  de  Vecole  normale,  in  Revue  de  Paris,  Dec.  1, 
1903,  p.  525. 

2  Enquite  sur  V enseignement  secondaire,  I.,  p.  140. 

23 


354  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

The  student  ordinarily  selected  one  of  his  former  teachers, 
who  perhaps  might  be  quite  incompetent  to  direct  a 
beginner.  Some  of  this  work  was  undoubtedly  very 
skilfully  administered,  while  on  the  other  hand  some  of  the 
teachers  started  the  normal  student  in  his  task  and  then 
took  advantage  of  his  presence  to  enjoy  a  vacation  for  the 
rest  of  the  fortnight,  merely  returning  in  time  to  gather 
a  little  material  for  a  report  to  the  head  master  on  the 
character  of  the  neophyte's  efforts.  The  criticism  against 
this  generally  recognized  lack  of  real  professional  training 
was  crystallized  in  one  of  the  conclusions  of  the  Eibot 
Commission  as  reported  to  and  adopted  by  the  Chamber 
of  Deputies  in  1902.  "The  higher  normal  school  will  be 
organized  and  directed  in  such  manner  as  to  be  not  only 
a  school  for  advanced  study  but  a  veritable  pedagogical 
institution."1  The  internal  modification  of  the  courses  of 
instruction  for  the  year  1902-1903 2  came  too  late  to 
save  the  identity  of  the  school.  The  presidential  decree 
of  November,  1903,  fused  it  into  the  University  of  Paris, 
thereby  putting  an  end  to  a  rivalry  that  was  rapidly  be- 
coming more  and  more  acute  and  that  boded  no  good  for 
academic  harmony  in  the  secondary  teaching  profession. 

By  the  terms  of  this  decree,  the  normal  school  was  made 
an  integral  part  of  the  university,  subject  to  the  authority  of 
the  vice-rector,  although  still  retaining  its  own 
Schod™a     independent  budget.     Its  director  and  assistant 
Professional     director,  one  of  whom  must  be  a  letters  man 
University.6   an^  tne  other  a  science  man,  were  given  seats 
in  the  corresponding  faculties  of  the  university. 
This   amalgamation  with  the  university  and  the   strength- 
ening of  the  professional  side  of  the  work  was  not  so  much  an 
innovation  as  a  return  to  the  original  plans  of  1795  and  1808, 
from  which  the  school  had  long  since  widely  departed.     The 
reform  was  less  significant  for  the  science  students  than  for 

1  Enquite  sur  V enseignement  secondaire,  VI.,  p.  81,  paragraph  21. 

2  See  Extract  from  a  report  by  M.  Perrot  to  the  Minister  of  Public  In- 
struction, in  Revue  Internationale  de  V enseignement,  1902,  II.,  pp.  516-52&. 


THE   TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  355 

the  letters  men,  for  the  former  had  long  followed  courses  at 
the  Sorbonne,  the  work  at  the  school  being  rather  more 
complementary,  as  it  is  to-day.  The  immediate  most  apparent 
effects  were  the  sudden  increase  in  the  number  of  students, 
thirty-two  for  letters  and  twenty  for  science  as  against 
twenty  and  thirteen  respectively  in  previous  years,  and  the 
removal  of  the  greater  part  of  the  instruction  from  the 
school  itself  to  the  lecture  rooms  of  the  university.  The 
latter  has  since  given  occasion  for  the  appellation  "  the  col- 
lege "  and  even  "  the  hotel "  of  the  scholars  of  the  university. 
The  former  is  certainly  the  more  suggestive  title  as  far 
as  Anglo-Saxon  readers  are  concerned,  for  the  present  organ- 
ization corresponds  fairly  well  to  the  external  organization  of 
the  English  college.  Unfortunately  there  is  room  at  the 
school  for  only  one  hundred  and  five  students,  the  others  who 
are  forced  to  live  outside  receiving  an  allowance  from  the 
State  of  twelve  hundred  francs  per  year,  the  estimated  cost  of 
board  and  lodging  within  the  school.  The  first-year  men  are 
given  the  choice  in  the  order  of  rating  at  the  admission  ex- 
amination between  living  at  the  school  and  living  outside, 
that  is,  until  all  the  vacancies  are  filled.  Those  toward  the 
bottom  of  the  list  thus  have  no  choice  in  the  matter. 

Admission  to  the  school  is  solely  by  competitive  exam- 
ination, the  number  of  places  being  determined  each  year  by 
the  Minister  of  Public  Instruction.     This  num- 
ber has  been  the  same  for  the  last  two  years,     theSchool? 
thirty-five     for    letters    and    twenty-two    for 
science.1  The     examination,     divided     as    ordinarily     into 
the  written  and  the  oral  part,  is  identical  with  the  scholar- 
ship  competition    for  the  master's   degree.     As  commonly 
happens,  the  written  examinations  are  held  simultaneously  in 
each  of  the  academy  seats  of  the  country,  but  the  successful 
candidates  are  obliged  to  come  to  Paris   for  the  oral   test. 
The  first  on  the  list  are  appointed  to  the  normal  school,  the 
next  in   order    receiving   scholarship  appointments   during 
their  year  of  study  for  the  master's  degree.     The  scholarships 

1  Bull.  adm.t  1908, 1.,  p.  319. 


356  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

may  be  whole,  three  quarters,  or  half,  on  the  basis  of  twelve 
hundred  francs,  the  amount  of  award  in  each  case  depending 
upon  the  financial  standing  of  the  candidate's  family.  A  can- 
didate must  be  not  less  than  eighteen  nor  more  than  twenty- 
four  years  of  age  and  must  hold  the  bachelor's  degree.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  so  keen  is  the  competition  for  appointment 
that  in  practice  considerably  more  than  this  degree  is  re- 
quired. Certain  lyc^es  have  special  graduate  classes,  so  to 
speak,  that  fit  expressly  for  this  examination.  For  the  letters 
section  this  is  known  as  the  higher  rhetoric  form,  a  name 
derived  from  the  former  appellation  of  the  present  first  form ; 
in  the  science  section  it  is  called  the  special  mathematics  form. 
The  students  remain  in  these  forms  one,  two,  and  sometimes 
three  and  even  four  years, 1  for  it  is  the  exception  for  one  to 
be  successful  after  only  one  year  in  these  special  classes. 
Formerly  it  was  not  at  all  unusual  for  prospective  normal 
school  candidates  to  pass  the  master's  examination  during 
this  period  of  preparation  so  that  they  had  a  considerable  ad- 
vantage over  their  comrades  at  the  very  outset  of  the  school 
course.  Under  the  present  regime  and  with  the  new  pro- 
gram of  the  master's  examination  that  went  into  effect  in 
July,  1908,  this  is  hardly  likely  to  continue. 
*  For  the  letters  section  the  written  examination  includes 
French,  translations  from  and  into  Latin,  philosophy,  history, 

and  one  of  the  three  following :  a  Greek  trans- 
Written       lation,  a  paper  in  a  modern  language  (English, 

German,  Italian,  Spanish,  Eussian,  or  Arabic), 
and  a  paper  in  mathematics  and  physics.  The  three  papers  in 
Latin  and  Greek  are  each  allowed  four  hours,  the  others  six 
hours  apiece.  The  science  candidates  have  a  choice  between 
two  series  of  papers, — the  examinations  in  mathematics  (based 
upon  a  special  program,  including  algebra,  analytic  geom- 
etry, vector  analysis,  something  of  the  calculus,  and  mechan- 
ics), French,  and  modern  languages  (two  translations  chosen 
from  Latin,  English,  and  German),  with  four  hours  for  the 

1  See  article  by  a  former  normal  student  in  the  Revue  Internationale  de 
Venseigncment,  1907,  I.,  pp.  230-240. 


THE   TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  357 

first,  three  for  the  second,  and  two  for  the  third,  being  com- 
mon to  both  series.  In  addition,  one  series  has  a  second 
paper  on  mathematics  and  one  on  physics,  both  six-hour  tests 
and  both  based  upon  the  topics  of  the  regular,  lycde  course ; 
while  the  other  series  has  papers  on  physics,  chemistry,  and 
natural  sciences,  drawn  from  a  special  program.  The  phys- 
ics lasts  six  hours,  the  chemistry  and  natural  science  four 
hours  each.  The  relative  values  of  studies  are  still  further 
provided  for  in  the  system  of  coefficients  to  which  reference 
has  already  been  made.1  In  the  written  examination  in  let- 
ters each  Latin  paper  is  valued  at  two,  and  each  of  the  others 
at  three ;  in  the  science  the  coefficients  in  one  series  vary 
from  one  for  the  French  essay  to  seven  for  the  physics,  and 
in  the  other  from  one  for  the  French  essay  to  five  for  the 
physics.  In  any  case  these  written  examinations  constitute 
a  long  and  exhausting  test  covering  a  total  duration  of  from 
twenty-one  to  thirty-two  hours. 

Only  those  who  pass  the  written  examinations  are  admitted 
to  the  oral  examinations  at  Paris.  Each  candidate  further- 
more covenants  to  reimburse  the  State  for  the  amount  of  his 
scholarship  in  case  through  any  fault  of  his  own  he  fails  to 
serve  ten  years  in  the  service  of  public  instruction.  The  oral 
examination  in  letters  includes  a  series  common  to  all,  con- 
sisting of  French,  Latin,  philosophy,  modern  history,  and  a 
modern  language  (this  latter  must  be  different  from  the  one 
chosen  for  the  written),  and  a  series  following  along  the  lines 
of  the  three  Latin  sections  of  the  baccalaureate.  The  exami- 
nation for  the  Latin-Greek  section  covers  Greek  and  the 
history  of  Greece  and  Eome ;  that  for  the  Latin-modern  lan- 
guage includes  the  same  ancient  history,  together  with  the 
modern  language  submitted  for  the  written  examination ; 
that  for  the  Latin-science  bears  upon  natural  science  and 
physics.  For  the  science  students  the  oral  examination 
comprises :  mathematics,  physics,  and  chemistry,  and  either 
(a)  additional  mathematics  or  (b)  natural  science.  In  the 
letters  examination  the  coefficients  for  history  and  physics 

1  Of.  mpra,  p.  340. 


358  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

are  one,  and  for  each  of  the  other  subjects  two ;  while  in  the 
science  examination  they  vary  in  one  group  from  one  for 
the  additional  mathematics  to  eight  for  the  ordinary  mathe- 
matics, and  in  the  other  from  three  for  the  chemistry  to  five 
for  the  physics. 

The  scholarships  for  the  master's  degree1  in  letters,  phi- 
losophy, or  history  are  granted  for  one  year ;  in  modern  lan- 
guages and  in  science  for  two  years,  although 
rtof gtheVe"     in  the  latter  case  it  is  often  possible  to  obtain 

Scholarship  an  extension  for  a  third  year.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  this  scholarship  period  the  students  that 
gain  the  master's  degree  are  granted,  without  further  exami- 
nation, a  scholarship  for  the  diploma  of  higher  studies1 
(dipldme  d'etudes  superieures).  This  varies  in  amount  from 
fifteen  hundred  to  six  hundred  francs,  and  likewise  runs  for 
a  year.  If  the  candidate  passes  this  examination  he  receives 
a  scholarship  for  the  agregation1  as  before  without  further 
competition.  This  also  is  granted  for  a  year,  but  may  be 
renewed  in  the  case  of  students  who  pass  the  written  part 
but  fail  on  the  oral.  These  last  two  scholarships,  for  the 
diploma  and  the  agregation,  are  sometimes  granted  to  stu- 
dents holding  the  master's  degree  who  did  not  enjoy  a  schol- 
arship for  that  first  advanced  degree.  Under  this  system, 
once  a  young  man  succeeds  in  the  competition  for  the  mas- 
ter's scholarship,  he  is  given  every  possible  encouragement 
and  all  reasonable  State  support  in  order  to  enable  him  to 
continue  his  studies  until  he  wins  the  agregation.  Not  every 
one  reaches  this  goal,  for  the  residuum  becomes  finer  and 
finer  as  the  coarser  products  are  eliminated  in  the  process. 
With  only  the  master's  degree,  however,  he  is  eligible  for 
appointment  in  a  college,  and  it  is  still  possible  for  him  to 

1  Aside  from  the  normal  students,  it  is  ordinarily  possible  for  these  scholars 
to  pursue  their  work  in  Paris  or  in  any  of  the  provincial  universities  that  they 
may  indicate.  Of  course  the  great  majority  of  them  are  enrolled  at  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris.  The  whole  system  has  given  rise  to  considerable  recrimina- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  provincial  institutions  on  the  ground  that  the  Sor- 
bonne  is  unduly  favored.  Most  of  these  contentions  are  ill  advised,  although 
prompted  by  a  pardonable  pride  in  the  local  university. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  359 

pass  the  other  two  barriers.  Every  year  men  are  succeeding 
in  this.  After  two  or  three  failures  his  chances  of  success 
become  smaller  and  smaller,  until  finally  he  gives  up  the 
fight  and  resigns  himself  to  his  lot,  never  able  to  become  a 
regular  professor  in  a  lyce'e,  but  still  with  the  whole  range  of 
the  college  field  before  him,  and  with  the  possibility  of  reach- 
ing an  acting  professorship  in  a  lyce'e. 

The  successful  candidates  for  the  normal  school  seldom 
begin  their  course  immediately.  They  almost  invariably 
arrange  to  work  off  one  of  the  two  years  of 
military  service  now  required  of  all  able-bodied  gSjjH: 
male  citizens.  Formerly  those  preparing  for 
certain  professional  careers  were  compelled  to  serve  only  a 
single  year  in  the  army  in  place  of  the  three  years  ordinarily 
demanded,  but  since  the  reduction  of  the  service  to  two  years 
in  1904  this  amount  has  been  rigorously  exacted  from  all. 
The  first  year  the  normal  student  spends  as  an  ordinary  sol- 
dier in  the  ranks.  During  that  time,  in  common  with  his 
fellows  from  the  military  and  the  polytechnic  schools,  he 
receives  additional  instruction  destined  to  prepare  him  to 
become  an  officer.  He  has  a  special  examination  to  pass 
at  the  end  of  this  year.  Throughout  his  three  years  at  the 
school  this  same  technical  military  instruction  is  carried  on 
one  hour  a  week,  supplemented  by  numerous  excursions  into 
the  country  on  Sundays  in  summer  for  topographical  and 
other  field  work  of  a  practical  nature.  Then  at  the  end  of 
the  course  there  is  another  examination  along  lines  similar 
to  the  former  one.  Those  who  are  successful  here  receive 
officers'  appointments.  Thus,  with  their  standing  as  reserve 
officers,  this  second  year  of  service  is  considerably  more 
agreeable  than  it  would  otherwise  be.  The  arrangement, 
however,  has  been  made  not  so  much  from  the  point  of  view 
of  the  normal  students  as  from  that  of  the  actual  needs  of 
the  service. 

With  their  first  year  of  military  service  behind  them,  the 
students  prepare  for  the  real  work  of  the  school ;  barring 
accidents,  three  years  of  delightful  association  in  an  intel- 


360  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

lectual  environment,  such  an  experience  as  no  other  institu- 
tion in  France  affords.    Here,  under  the  present  liberal  regime, 

the  students  are  treated  like  young  men  capa- 
School.  6     ble  of  looking  out  for  themselves,  a  freedom 

that  stands  out  in  striking  contrast  to  the 
system  of  repression  they  have  just  passed  through  in  the 
lyce*es.  Twenty-five  years  ago  at  the  normal  school  every- 
thing was  conducted  under  the  strictest  military  regime. 
Long  after  the  old  conditions  had  changed,  however,  the 
former  regulations  were  still  officially  in  force,  only  to  be 
honored  more  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance.  Since 
the  advent  of  the  present  administration,  the  students  are  no 
longer  required  to  obtain  permission  in  order  to  go  outside 
the  school  precincts.  The  gates  are  locked  at  one  o'clock 
in  the  morning  and  after  that  hour  the  belated  theatre-goer 
has  the  alternative  of  climbing  the  high  iron  fence  or  of 
spending  the  night  outside. 

Save  for  the  opportunity  of  eating  and  sleeping  at  the 
school,  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  internes  are  in  no 
respect  different  from  those  of  the  externes.  The  latter  may 
even  arrange  to  take  their  meals  in  the  common  hall  if  they 
so  desire,  and  thus  derive  practically  all  the  advantages  of 
the  life  in  common  at  the  school,  which  is  really  its  salient 
characteristic.  The  spirit  of  comradeship  is  further  fostered 
by  a  system  of  study  rooms  called  in  the  school  vernacular 
"tournes"  Each  of  these  holds  from  two  to  five  fellows, 
drawn  together  by  common  interests  or  congenial  natures, 
each  one  with  his  own  study  table,  books,  and  easy-chair. 
The  alcohol  lamp  with  its  accompanying  row  of  cups  and 
saucers  half  hidden  by  a  curtain  are  strongly  suggestive  of 
one's  own  college  days.  The  couch  in  the  corner,  the  pic- 
tures and  plaster  casts  upon  the  walls  still  further  enhance 
the  illusion,  so  that  if  some  genie  were  suddenly  to  whisk  an 
American  into  one  of  these  rooms,  he  would  readily  believe 
himself  in  one  of  his  own  college  dormitories.  The  sleeping 
accommodations  are  quite  apart,  for  the  students  sleep  in  the 
traditional  fashion  that  still  prevails  in  the  lyc^es  already 


THE   TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  361 

described.  The  tournes  of  each  class  are  grouped  together, 
the  rooms  being  assigned  by  lot  at  the  beginning  of  the  year. 
Those  of  the  third-year  men,  at  the  top  of  the  building,  far- 
thest removed  from  the  noise  of  the  street,  go  by  the  familiar 
title  of  the  "  palace  of  the  cubes."  The  first-year  student  is 
a  "  conscript,"  the  second-year  a  "  square "  (that  is,  the 
second  power),  and  the  third-year  a  "cube"  (that  is,  the 
third  power),  while  the  surveillant,  although  from  no  spirit 
of  animosity,  is  commonly  known  as  the  "caiman"  With 
three  years  of  such  familiar  association,  it  is  small  wonder 
that  the  normal  students  are  bound  together  by  an  esprit 
de  corps  that  grows  even  stronger  with  the  gathering  years. 
Many  of  the  graduates  feared  that  the  recent  reform  would 
tend  to  weaken  these  old  bonds,  but  except  for  widening  the 
circle  a  little,  their  fears  do  not  seem  to  have  been  realized. 

Aside  from  the  personal  contact  with  his  fellows  and  with 
his  professors,  one  of  the  highest-prized  privileges  of  a  nor- 
mal student  is  his  library  opportunities.  He  has  within  his 
reach  a  magnificent  collection  of  some  200,000  books  among 
which  he  can  browse  to  his  heart's  desire.  In  the  morning 
it  is  reserved  for  the  professors  and  the  former  students,  but 
all  the  afternoon  it  is  open  for  the  almost  unrestricted  use  of 
the  student  body.  Each  one  seeks  out  his  own  book  on  the 
shelves,  and  thus  gains  the  inspiration  that  only  such  contact 
with  books  can  give. 

The  work  of  the  first  year  reproduces  exactly  that  which  is 
required  from  the  ordinary  possessors  of  the  master's  scholar- 
ships, save  that  those  actually  enrolled  in  the 
school  enjoy  the  added  distinction  and  privilege     Thy  First 
that  always  attach  to  the  normal  school  stu- 
dents.    They  are  required  to  pass  the  master's  examination 
at  the  end  of  the  first  year,  and  to  gain  the  diploma  at  the 
end  of  the  second.     Failure  at  either  point  means  exclusion 
from  the  school  just  as  a  similar  failure  in  the  case  of  the 
outside  students  working  for  the  same  degree  entails  dis- 
continuance of  the  scholarship.     In  France  the  State  is  gen- 
erous with   its  scholarships,  but  it  bestows  them  from  no 


362 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


a 
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W  a 

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Q 
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a 

1.  Latin  translation.     3  hrs.      I 

2.  Translation  and  grammatical 

commentary,   modem    lan- 
guage, chosen  by  the  candi- 
date.   Commentary  written 
in    the    modern    language. 
4  hrs.                                    II 

3.  Modern      language      theme. 

3  hrs.                                    II 

4.  French  essay.     4  hrs.            1 

1.  Interpretation  of   a  modern 

language      text,      together 
with  a  literary  and  gram- 
matical commentary  in  the 
foreign  language.                II 

2.  Literary  history  of  the  mod- 

ern language.                        I 

3.  Interpretation  of  a  text  from 

modern  French  literature.  I 

4.  Any  university  course,  at  the 

choice  of  the  candidate.      I 

5.  Translation  of  an  easy  selec- 

tion from  the  second  mod- 
ern language  chosen  by  the 
candidate.                              I 

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H-I 
O 

1.  Greek  translation,  with  liter- 

ary and  grammatical  com- 
mentary.   4  hrs.                  I 

2.  Latin  translation,  with  liter- 

ary and  grammatical  com- 
mentary.    4  hrs.                 I 

3.  French  essay.     4  hrs.            I 

The  use  of  a  dictionary 
is  authorized. 

1.  Literary     and    grammatical 

interpretation   of    a  Greek 
text.                                       I 

2.  Literary     and     grammatical 

interpretation    of    a   Latin 
text.                                       I 

3.  Literary    and     grammatical 

interpretation  of  a  French 
text.                                       I 

4.  Any  classical  course,  at  the 

choice  of  the  candidate.      I 

5.  Any  university  course,  at  the 

choice  of  the  candidate.      I 

6.  Analysis  of  a  text,  literature, 

philology,  criticism,  or  liter- 
ary history  from  a  modern 
language    chosen    by    the 
candidate.                               I 

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1 
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1.  Latin  translation.    3  hrs.    II 

2.  History.     A    choice    among 

five   subjects:   ancient  his- 
tory, history  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  modern  history,  con- 
temporary history,  physical 
geography.     4  hrs.            J I 

3.  Any    university    course,    at 

the  choice  of  the  candidate. 
4  hrs.                                      I 

4.  Practical    exercise    in    epig- 

raphy or  cartography.     In 
the  former  the  text  will  be 
taken  from  Greek  antiquity, 
Roman  antiquity,  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  or  modern  times, 
according  to  the  choice  of 
the  candidate.    3  hrs.        II 

1.  Ancient  history. 

2.  History  of  the  Middle  Ages.    I 

3.  Modern  history. 

4.  Contemporary  history.          I 

5.  Geography.                            IJ 

6.  Any  university  course,  at  the 

choice  of  the  candidate.      I 

7.  Questions  on  an  historical  or 

geographical   work,   chosen 
by  the   candidate  and  ac- 
cepted  by  the   faculty   at 
beginning    of    second    half 
year.                                       I 

8.  Analysis  of  an  historical  or 

geographical  text  in  either 
English  or  German  at  the 
choice  of  the  candidate.     I 

1 

£ 

o 
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O 
9 

3 
ft 

1.  Latin  translation.    3  hrs.    II 

2.  Philosophy.    A  choice  among 

four  subjects:  general  phi- 
losophy,   psychology,  logic 
and  scientific  method,  ethics 
and  sociology.      3  hrs.      II 

3.  History  of  philosophy.   4  hrs. 

4.  Any    university    course,    at 

the  choice  of  the  candidate. 
3  hrs.                                      I 

1.  General  philosophy                I 

2.  Psychology. 

3.  Logic  and  scientific  method.  I 

4.  Ethics  and  sociology.              I 

5.  Interpretation  of  two  philo- 

sophical   texts    from      two 
languages    chosen    by    the 
candidate.                            II 

6.  Any  university  course,  at  the 

choice  of  the  candidate.      I 

7.  Analysis   of  a   philosophical 

text   in   either   English   or 
German  at  the  choice  of  the 
candidate.  ]                            I 

U9JJUM 

1VJLQ 

THE  TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  363 

eleemosynary  motive.  It  grants  them  freely,  but  it  demands 
success  from  its  beneficiaries,  and  it  exacts  a  return  in  intel- 
lectual service  after  the  academic  goals  have  been  reached. 
The  first  year's  work,  then,  is  determined  entirely  by  the  re- 
quirements for  the  master's  degree.  The  normal  students 
live  at  the  school,  but  have  all  their  courses  at  the  university. 
Until  the  passing  of  the  baccalaureate  all  their  work  had 
been  more  or  less  general.  To  be  sure,  at  the  beginning 
of  the  sixth  form,  the  boy  had  chosen  for  or  against  Latin ; 
again,  on  completing  the  first  cycle,  he  had  another  decision 
to  make,  but  all  the  pupils  had  had  mathematics,  and  all  had 
had  some  other  science  work.  Now,  as  the  preparation  for 
the  master's  degree  begins  in  earnest,  the  scope  begins  to 
narrow  still  more.  Not  only  have  the  letters  men  dropped 
all  the  scientific  subjects,  but  they  are  grouped  in  one  of  the 
four  subdivisions  :  philosophy,  history  and  geography,  classic 
languages  and  literatures,  and  modern  languages  and  litera- 
tures. Latin  and  at  least  one  modern  language  in  addition 
to  the  student's  special  interest  are  required  of  all  these 
candidates.  The  importance  still  attached  to  the  Latin  is 
shown  by  the  fact  that  in  the  philosophy,  in  the  history  and 
the  geography,  and  in  the  modern  language  series,  the  candi- 
dates must  receive  a  mark  of  at  least  eight  on  a  scale  of 
twenty  in  the  Latin  translation  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the 
oral  examinations,  whereas  in  the  other  subjects  this  minimum 
is  regularly  fixed  at  five.  Furthermore  an  average  of  half  the 
maximum  at  the  written  examination  is  required  of  all. 

These  examinations,  both  written  and  oral,  are  held  in 
Paris  and  in  the  other  university  centers  in  July  and  in 
November.  The  program  for  the  letters  students  on  the 
preceding  page  will  give  a  clearer  idea  of  the  scope  of  the 
examination  and  its  general  character. 

The  lists  of  authors  upon  which  most  of  the  examinations 
in  letters  are  based  are  drawn  up  by  each  faculty  every  two 
years.1 

1  For  the  philosophy  series  at  the  University  of  Paris,  1908-1909,  the 
English  authors  are:  Berkeley,  Treatise  on  the  principles  of  human  knowledge; 


364  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

The  master  of  science  degree  is  still  delivered  under  the 
regulations   of    1896,   which    have   meanwhile    been   only 

slightly  modified.  Although  the  subjects  for 
Scie^cfSegree.  wnicn  this   degree  is   granted  are  numerous, 

varying  considerably  in  the  different  universi- 
ties, for  teaching  purposes  they  fall  into  three  general 
groups,  according  to  the  subjects  of  instruction  in  the  sec- 
ondary schools:  (1)  differential  and  integral  calculus,  ra- 
tional mechanics,  and  either  general  physics,  or  another 
mathematical  subject;  (2)  general  physics,  general  chemistry, 
and  either  mineralogy  or  one  of  a  series  of  general  science 
subjects;  (3)  zoology  or  general  physiology,  botany,  and 
geology.  The  examinations  are  conducted  in  the  same 
general  way  as  those  for  letters,  except  that  after  the  written 
examination  is  inserted  a  practical  test  which  must  be 
passed  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the  oral. 

The  second  year's  work  of  the  normal  student  is  likewise 
determined  by  conditions  entirely  outside  the  school.     This 

is  the  period  during  which  he  acquires  his  so- 
ThYearC°nd    ca^e(i  "  scientific  initiation,"  of  which  he  gives 

evidence  in  the  examination  for  the  diploma 
of  higher  study  at  the  end  of  the  year.  There  is  a  beginning 
of  pure  pedagogy,  however,  at  the  normal  school,  represented 
by  a  one  hour  a  week  lecture  course  on  the  "  Origin,  develop- 
ment, and  present  situation  of  secondary  education  in 
France,"  given  by  M.  Durkheim,  professor  of  education  at 
the  University  of  Paris.  The  few  weeks  between  December 
and  Easter  do  not  allow  a  very  thorough  treatment  of  such 
an  extensive  subject,  but  the  course  marks  a  phase  of  theo- 
retical instruction  that  was  entirely  lacking  in  the  French 
secondary  teacher's  preparation  until  the  recent  organization 
of  the  normal  school.     After  Easter  in  1907-1908,  the  course 

and  Hume,  Treatise  on  human  nature,  I.,  pt.  III.  For  the  modern  language 
series  the  English  authors  are :  Shakespeare,  Othello ;  Milton,  Comus; 
Johnson,  Lives  of  the  English  poets  (Dryden,  Swift);  Sheridan,  The  critic; 
Wordsworth,  The  Excursion,  Book  I. ;  Eliot,  Scenes  from  clerical  life ; 
Tennyson,  Selections  (Rowe  and  Webb);  Hawthorne,  The  house  of  the 
seven  gables. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  365 

was  continued  by  a  series  of  seven  lectures  on  more  special 
topics  by  men  particularly  well  qualified  to  handle  the  sub- 
jects discussed.  The  questions  under  consideration  were: 
"  The  relation  between  pedagogy  and  psychology " ;  "  The 
role  of  attention  in  education " ;  two  lectures  on  school 
hygiene ;  two  on  the  organization  of  public  instruction  in 
general  and  on  the  secondary  education  of  boys  in  particular ; 
and  one  on  cooperation  among  secondary  teachers.  The 
chief  weakness  about  this  theoretical  work  is  that  as  yet  the 
official  regulations  content  themselves  merely  with  requiring 
attendance  upon  these  lectures.  In  view  of  the  strenuous 
nature  of  the  work  actually  required  for  the  examinations, 
especially  where  so  much  is  controlled  by  examinations  as 
in  France,  it  would  be  safe  to  assume  that  the  students  do 
not  devote  much  consideration  to  the  questions  outside  the 
lecture  room.  Certainly  the  student  attitude  in  this  course 
differs  markedly  from  what  one  finds  in  the  other  work  at 
the  school. 

The  rest  of  this  second  year's  work  is  made  up  of  a 
number  of  university  courses  chosen  by  the  individual  stu- 
dent in  accordance  with  his  special  needs.  He 
is  now  actually  started  on  the  preparation  for  HP{Plogta  f 
the  aggregation,  but  he  must  gain  his  diploma 
at  the  end  of  the  year.  This  diploma  which  has  proved  its 
worth  in  the  history  department  since  1895,  but  has  been 
required  in  the  other  departments  of  letters  and  science  for 
only  five  years,  follows  the  same  grouping  as  already  out- 
lined for  the  master's  examination.  The  year's  work  intro- 
duces the  students  to  the  use  of  a  scientific  method,  thereby 
assuring  a  higher  standard  of  scholarship  in  the  future 
teachers  than  was  guaranteed  by  the  simple  master's  degree, 
and  at  the  same  time  allowing  the  agregation  jury  to  con- 
centrate the  attention  upon  the  candidate's  capabilities  from 
the  teaching  point  of  view.  In  the  three  science  groups  the 
diploma  is  based  upon  two  requirements :  (1)  an  original 
piece  of  scientific  work  written  under  the  general  supervision 
of  a  university  professor,  and  (2)  an  oral  examination  on  this 


366  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

same  work,  together  with  certain  topics  taken  from  the 
general  field,  announced  three  months  in  advance.  In  letters 
the  philosophy  examination  follows  the  same  method  of  pro- 
cedure.1 In  classics  three  texts,  Greek,  Latin,  and  French, 
are  selected  for  extended  study;  a  question  suggested  by 
one  of  these  forms  the  basis  of  a  written  memoir ;  a  passage 
from  each  text  is  assigned  at  the  oral  examination  for  inter- 
pretation; and  finally  philology,  paleography,  comparative 
grammar,  or  some  other  similar  limited  field  of  literary  study 
selected  by  the  candidate  provides  the  subject  matter  for  a 
searching  questioning.  In  modern  languages,  besides  the 
written  memoir,  its  defence,  and  the  interpretation  of  the 
author  previously  chosen  by  the  student,  there  is  also  a 
grammatical  and  literary  interpretation  of  a  passage  from  an 
author  of  the  Middle  Ages  or  the  Eenaissance  period.  The 
student  has  ample  time  in  which  to  prepare  for  this,  for,  as 
happens  in  other  similar  cases,  he  makes  his  own  choice  of 
author,  subject  of  course  to  faculty  approval.  In  history  or 
geography  the  diploma  has  a  fourfold  basis  :  (1)  the  memoir 
and  its  discussion;  (2)  discussion  of  a  question  in  history 
and  one  in  geography,  assigned  by  the  faculty  three  months 
in  advance  and  selected  from  other  fields  than  the  one 
treated  in  the  written  paper ;  (3)  criticism  of  an  historical 
or  geographical  text  chosen  by  the  candidate  with  the 
approval  of  the  faculty ;  and  (4)  a  series  of  questions  on 
archeology,  epigraphy,  paleography,  diplomacy,  bibliography, 
or  general  geography,  the  choice  of  the  field  being  left  to  the 
candidate.  The  examinations  in  history  and  geography  are 
by  far  the  most  comprehensive  and  searching,  a  condition 
probably  due  in  no  small  measure  to  modifications  in  accord- 
ance with  lengthening  experience.  It  must  be  somewhat 
awe-inspiring  for  the  candidates,  as  I  saw  them  summoned 
before  a  jury  of  university  professors,  each  one  of  whom  was 
distinguished  in  some  particular  field  of  investigation,  and 

1  The  record  of  thesis  subjects,  texts  for  explanation,  and  marks  for  the 
diploma  in  philosophy  in  1 908,  Appendix  L,  will  give  a  clearer  idea  of  the 
character  of  this  particular  examination. 


THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  367 

plied  with  questions  by  these  same  specialists.  Occasionally 
a  candidate  appears  who  stands  his  ground  valiantly  or  re- 
treats in  good  order  before  superior  forces.  The  difficulty  of 
the  ordeal  varies  greatly  in  the  different  subjects,  and  de- 
pends still  more  upon  the  personal  characteristics  of  the 
individual  men.  In  any  case  it  is  no  easy  task  for  the 
student. 

The  third  year  is  the  final  preparation  for  the  aggregation, 
the   period  which  a  former  Minister  of  Public  Instruction 
was  pleased  to  call  the  period  of  "  general  cul- 
ture  within  a  definite  field  of  knowledge,"  but         Year"1 
which  is  rather  devoted  to  widening  and  deep- 
ening the  knowledge  of  the  subjects  already  covered  several 
times  before,  constantly  keeping  in  mind  the  fact  that  these 
young  men  are  planning  to  teach  these  same  branches.     No 
one   student   has    many   subjects,  for   he   confines  himself 
exclusively  to  his  professional  work.     Part  of  the  time  is 
devoted  to  lectures  by  the  professors,  but  the  major  part  is 
taken  up  with  lessons  given  by  the  pupils  themselves. 

During  this  year  there  is  still  some  general  class  work  at 
the  Sorbonne,  but  nearly  all  the  lessons  by  the  students  are 
given  at  the  normal  school  itself.  These  latter, 
which  are  in  reality  little  more  than  lectures,  Lessons 
form  a  decidedly  artificial  kind  of  practice 
teaching.  They  unquestionably  give  the  student  good  train- 
ing in  organizing  and  presenting  his  material,  but  a  most 
essential  factor  in  the  teaching  process,  somebody  to  teach,  is 
quite  lacking.  To  be  sure,  the  lectures  are  delivered  before 
the  professor  and  the  student's  classmates,  but  this  audience 
is  hardly  comparable  to  a  class  of  ten  to  fifty  boys  in  a 
secondary  school.  The  element  of  discipline  is  entirely 
lacking,  while  the  apperceptive  bases  of  the  two  groups  of 
individuals  are  widely  different.  Nevertheless  this  form  of 
practice  is  not  so  unlike  their  subsequent  teaching  as  one 
might  suppose  on  first  consideration,  for  it  will  be  remem- 
bered that  the  instruction  in  the  secondary  schools,  especially 
in  the  upper  classes,  follows  essentially  the  lecture  method. 


368  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

As  practice  in  the  selection,  organization,  and  presentation  of 
material,  however,  it  is  admirable.  The  following  are  typi- 
cal of  the  subjects  actually  treated  in  these  student  lessons : 
"  The  results  of  the  crusades ; "  "  An  elementary  lesson  in 
vaporization ; "  "  The  political  situation  in  Egypt  under  the 
Ptolemies  ; "  "  The  metamorphosis  of  insects  "  (for  a  sixth 
form).  As  far  as  possible  the  students  strive  to  suit  their 
work  to  the  comprehension  of  a  given  age  of  pupils,  but 
inasmuch  as  personal  experience  of  several  years  back  con- 
stitutes almost  the  sole  basis  for  determining  this  adaptation, 
they  often  go  wide  of  the  mark.  In  physics  two  students 
work  together,  one  as  teacher,  and  the  other  as  laboratory 
assistant,  so  that  the  selection  and  preparation  of  the  mate- 
rial represents  a  kind  of  joint  product.  The  student  has  a 
regular  lyc^e  teaching  period  of  fifty  or  sixty  minutes  for  the 
presentation  of  the  material.  At  the  close  his  classmates 
are  ordinarily  called  upon  to  criticise  the  lesson.  Finally 
the  teacher  gives  his  criticism,  first  in  the  form  of  general 
appreciation  of  the  work  as  a  whole,  and  later  with  detailed 
suggestions  as  to  the  handling  of  the  subject.  In  the  main 
the  lessons  that  I  heard  were  good,  although  the  students 
generally  shared  the  faults  of  most  young  teachers:  too 
much  material,  with  consequently  too  rapid  transitions  and  a 
failure  to  drive  things  home ;  maladaptation  of  material  and 
language  to  the  comprehension  of  young  pupils ;  neglect  of 
the  relative  values  of  material.  Each  student  ordinarily  has 
three  such  lessons  in  the  course  of  the  year  in  each  subject 
or  large  phase  of  a  subject  represented  in  his  agregatio?i,  al- 
though this  number  may  be  increased  or  diminished  according 
to  the  size  of  the  class  and  the  pleasure  of  the  instructor. 
Thus  the  history  student,  for  example,  has  three  lessons  in 
ancient  history,  three  in  mediaeval  history,  three  in  modern 
history,  and  three  in  geography,  making  twelve  in  all ;  the 
natural  science  student  likewise  has  twelve,  four  in  each  of 
his  three  subjects,  zoology,  botany,  and  geology. 

The   theoretical  preparation  in   the   second   year  has  its 
counterpart  in  the  following  year,  although  this  theoretical 


THE  TRAINING  OF  TEACHERS  369 

character  becomes  less  and  less  pronounced  until  it  finally 
gives  way  entirely  to  the  practice  teaching.  Following  his 
usual  custom,  M.  Liard,  the  Vice-rector  of  the 
University  of  Paris,  opened  this  course  in  1907-  ^S^. 
1908.  In  his  three  lectures  M.  Liard  explained 
the  significance  of  the  new  lyc6e  program  with  its  ad- 
justments, its  purposes,  and  its  aims,  and  called  the  at- 
tention of  these  prospective  teachers  to  a  few  vital  funda- 
mental principles  of  method  and  management.  All  this 
came  with  added  force  because  founded  upon  the  speaker's 
long  and  successful  experience  both  as  a  teacher  and  as  an 
administrative  officer.  In  fact,  much  of  the  awakened  inter- 
est in  this  purely  pedagogical  preparation  is  due  to  the 
initiative  and  the  support  of  the  vice-rector.  In  close  touch 
with  the  real  situation  in  the  schools,  with  an  open  mind  for 
possible  reforms,  and  with  the  power  and  the  courage  to 
effect  them,  M.  Liard  is  proving  himself  a  worthy  successor 
to  the  late .  M.  Grdard.  Following  these  general  lectures 
required  of  all  candidates  for  the  agregation,  whether  norma- 
liens  or  university  men,  the  students  are  separated  into  a 
series  of  parallel  courses  in  accordance  with  their  particular 
interests :  letters,  grammar,  philosophy,  history  and  geogra- 
phy, modern  languages,  mathematics,  physics  and  chemistry, 
and  natural  science.  These  lectures,  three  or  four  in  num- 
ber in  each  series,  given  largely  by  the  regular  university 
professors,  are  essentially  special  method  courses  that  lead 
up  directly  to  the  "  professional  apprenticeship  "  or  practice 
teaching.  With  the  completion  of  the  series  of  lectures, 
however,  the  responsibility  of  these  men  ceases. 

The  practice  teaching  is  nowadays  conducted  much  more 
seriously  than  before  the  recent  reform.     Under  the  present 
conditions  each  candidate  for  the  agregation} 
whether  a  normal  school  student  or  one  work-      ^ch^nff. 
ing  independently,  is  required  to  spend  at  least 
three  weeks  in  a  lyce'e.     The  students  are  assigned  in  groups 

1  Professors  in  the  colleges  and  acting  professors  in  the  lycees  are  exempt 
from  this  requirement. 

21 


370  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

of  two  or  three  to  various  professors  in  the  Paris  schools. 
This  time  means  are  taken  to  assure  the  competency  of  the 
teachers  for  this  student  guidance,  for  the  men  are  selected 
by  the  vice-rector  for  this  particular  purpose.  As  far  as  this 
practice  work  is  concerned  the  students  are  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  lyc£e  teachers ;  no  attempt  has  been  made  to 
assure  uniformity  of  treatment  thereafter.  The  professors 
take  these  young  men  in  hand,  go  over  the  work  with  them, 
introduce  them  to  the  general  mechanism  of  class-room 
conduct,  and  finally  entrust  their  classes  to  them.  One  can 
readily  see  that  when  the  observation  and  the  other  prelimi- 
nary work  have  been  done,  the  amount  of  time  left  for  actual 
teaching  cannot  be  very  extensive,  but  at  least  it  is  done 
under  competent  supervision.  In  the  modern  languages, 
the  practice  teaching  is  considerably  more  extensive,  for  it 
covers  approximately  two  thirds  of  the  academic  year.1  The 
lyc6e  professors  to  whom  these  students  are  sent  receive 
four  hundred  francs  per  year  extra  for  this  work.  On  the 
strength  of  the  reports  from  the  teachers  on  the  result  of 
this  teaching,  together  with  the  records  of  their  theoretical 
preparation,  the  vice-rector  issues  the  probation  certificate 
required  for  admission  to  candidacy  for  the  aggregation.  In 
suggesting  to  one  of  the  normal  school  professors  the  possi- 
bility of  a  weakness  in  the  system  from  the  fact  that  there 
was  no  bond  of  connection  between  the  men  in  charge  of 
the  students  at  the  school  and  the  practice  teaching,  he 
replied :  "  But  these  secondary  teachers  are  our  colleagues, 
and  are  equally  competent  to  look  after  the  students."  The 
outsider  is  inclined  to  attribute  the  latter  part  of  the  state- 
ment to  the  natural  modesty  of  the  speaker.  There  is  an 
admitted  defect,  however,  in  the  fact  that  no  critical  report 
of  the  teaching  ever  reaches  the  examining  jury  for  the 
agregation.  The  examination  is  still  primarily  a  test  of 
knowledge,  although  the  technique  of  the  profession  is 
gradually  obtaining  recognition. 

There  is  another  recent  innovation   in  the  pedagogical 

1  In  1907-8,  from  January  8  to  May  31. 


THE   TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  371 

preparation  of  the  candidates  for  the  agregation.     Each  one 
is  assigned  to  a  particular  primary  school  to  visit  it  and 
acquire  some  general  notion  of  its  functioning.       y. 
This  would  seem  almost  too  trivial  to  men-      Primary 
tion  were  it  not  that  to  the  large  majority  of      Schools, 
these  students  a  public  primary  school  is  an  unknown  land, 
and  for  more  than  one  of  them  this  is  likely  to  be  the  only 
time  in  their  lives  when  they  will  have  any  personal  con- 
tact with  the  lower  order  of  schools.     In  view  of  the  wide 
separation  between  the  teaching  corps  of  these  two  great 
divisions  of  State  schools,  even  such  a  simple  requirement 
as  this  may  be  a  means  toward  establishing  a  more  sympa- 
thetic understanding  among  the  members  of  the  teaching 
profession. 

After  all  this  preliminary  work  has  been  disposed  of 
comes  the  final  test,  the  examination  for  the  agregation. 
There  are  eight  orders  of  the  agreges :  in  phi- 
losophy,  history  and  geography,  letters,  gram- 
mar, modern  languages,  mathematics,  physical  sciences, 
natural  sciences.  The  agregation  in  grammar  still  exists  in 
spite  of  various  determined  efforts  to  abolish  it.  In  fact 
there  is  little  reason  other  than  tradition  for  retaining  it, 
for  it  covers  nearly  the  same  ground  as  the  agregation  in 
letters,  and  even  so  late  as  the  year  before  the  examination 
the  candidates  for  the  two  agregations  pass  together  through 
the  test  for  the  diploma  for  higher  study  in  the  classics. 
Each  examination  has  its  own  Latin  theme,  its  Greek  theme, 
its  Latin  translation,  with  four  hours  for  each,  its  French 
essay,  its  text  interpretations  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  French. 
The  Greek  translation  of  the  letters  examination  is  replaced 
by  the  grammatical  study  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  texts 
for  the  grammar  candidates.  In  the  oral  examination  in- 
stead of  the  lecture  on  a  literary  subject,  demanded  of  the 
letters  men,  the  grammarians  have  additional  grammatical 
commentaries  to  make  on  the  language  texts  submitted  for 
interpretation.  The  same  authors  are  required  of  each ;  the 
general   scope   of  the  work  is  practically  the  same;  each 


372  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

teaches  Latin,  Greek,  and  French,  the  only  difference  being 
that  the  agreges  in  letters  teach  in  the  highest  forms,  while 
the  agreges  in  grammar  teach  from  the  sixth  to  the  first 
form  inclusive.  The  present  distinction  harks  back  to  the 
period  when  grammatical  instruction  was  strongly  differen- 
tiated from  philosophy. 

Under  the  revised  program,  holders  of  the  master's  degree 
in  science  are  on  the  same  footing  with  those  in  let- 
ters for  the  agregation  in  philosophy,  but  the  diploma  in 
philosophy  is  required  of  all.  The  other  aggregations  gener- 
ally require  both  the  master's  degree  and  the  diploma  in 
their  particular  fields  before  admitting  to  candidacy.  The 
examinations  in  the  various  subjects  consist  of  from  two  to 
five  written  papers  each  (save  for  the  exceptions  noted  above 
in  letters  and  grammar,  together  with  the  theme  and  the 
translation  in  the  modern  languages)  of  a  duration  of  seven 
hours,  texts  to  interpret  and  comment  upon,  and  one  or  two 
*  lessons  "  similar  to  those  already  described  at  the  normal 
school.  Formerly  the  candidate  was  allowed  twenty-four 
hours  in  which  to  prepare  this  lesson,  but  the  new  regime 
has  reduced  the  time  to  four  hours  for  each  of  the  science 
subjects,  five  hours  for  each  of  the  two  lessons  in  modern 
languages,  and  six  hours  for  the  philosophy,  the  letters,  and 
the  major  choices  in  history  and  geography.  In  the  prepar- 
ation of  these  lessons,  the  books,  instruments,  and  material 
asked  for  by  the  candidate  are  as  far  as  possible  placed  at  his 
disposition,  thus  largely  reproducing  the  conditions  of  actual 
teaching,  save  that  he  is  deprived  of  all  personal  contact 
with  the  outside  world,  and  that  he  has  to  work  under  high 
pressure.  The  oral  test  in  physics  and  chemistry  includes 
the  analysis  of  a  salt,  setting  up  apparatus,  and  a  demon- 
stration lesson  in  physics  and  one  in  chemistry.  For  the 
preparation  of  the  two  latter,  the  services  of  a  laboratory 
assistant  are  placed  at  the  candidate's  disposal.  Even  under 
the  most  favorable  conditions  it  is  a  serious  test  that  de- 
mands a  great  expenditure  of  nervous  energy.  In  the  his- 
tory and  geography  examination,  probably  the  hardest  of  all, 


THE    TRAINING   OF    TEACHERS  373 

there  are  four  written  papers  of  seven  hours  each  (one  on 
each  of  the  great  divisions  of  history,  and  one  on  geography), 
and  three  lessons  of  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  with  six 
hours  allowed  for  preparation,  the  whole  giving  a  total  of 
more  than  forty-six  hours. 

When  once  a  man  has  succeeded  in  this  competition,  the 
real  goal  of  the  teaching  profession  in  France,  he  is  in  a  way 
a  charge  upon  the  government,  and  it  obligates 
itself  to  provide  him  with  a  living  as  long  as  J^AgrigL 
he  is  physically  and  mentally  capable  of  ren- 
dering it  adequate  service.  It  must  find  an  appointment  for 
him  in  some  lyc^e  if  he  so  requests.  Failure  so  to  do  does 
not  relieve  the  State  of  the  responsibility  for  his  salary, 
which,  it  will  be  remembered,  varies  according  to  certain 
classes  and  not  according  to  particular  institutions.  Further- 
more, in  whatever  teaching  position  he  may  be  placed,  he  is 
entitled  to  an  extra  remuneration  of  five  hundred  francs  per 
year  just  because  he  is  an  agrege.  In  view  of  this  addi- 
tional salary,  the  tenure  of  office,  and  the  absolute  assurance 
of  appointment,  together  with  the  great  academic  honor  that 
always  attaches  to  these  appointments,  it  is  no  wonder  that 
in  some  respects  it  is  quite  as  high  a  distinction  as  the 
doctor's  degree. 

There  are  two  other  general  classes  of  certificates  for  sec- 
ondary teaching :  the  certificates  of  competency  for  modern 
language  teaching,  and  for  teaching  in  the  ele- 
mentary classes  of  the  secondary  schools,  both  of  competency  • 
obtained  by  competitive  examination,  wherein       Modern 
the  number  of  places  is  fixed  from  year  to  year      Teachin? 
by  the  Minister,  according  to  the  needs  of  the 
service.      The   first   of  these,   common   to   both   men   and 
women,  is  about  on  a  par  academically,  with  the  master's 
degree.     It  answers  every  purpose  of  this  degree  as  far  as 
eligibility  for  the  diploma  and  the  agregation  is  concerned. 
The  men,  however,  usually  prefer  to  take  the  master's  degree, 
otherwise  they  shut  themselves  off  from  a  possible  doctorate 
later   on.     This   test   provides   practically   all   the   modern 


374  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

language  teachers  for  the  girls'  secondary  schools  and  the 
boys'  colleges,  and  often  ekes  out  the  supply  of  agreges  in 
the  boys'  lyc^es.  Besides  a  preliminary  eliminatory  test  of 
a  French  essay,  there  are  the  usual  written  and  oral  exami- 
nations of  theme,  translation,  grammatical  commentary,  and 
interpretation  of  text.  Besides  a  sight  theme  and  a  sight 
translation  based  upon  the  current  idiomatic  language  use, 
there  is  also  a  special  mark  given  for  pronunciation.  Great 
stress  is  laid  upon  the  ability  to  speak  the  language.  In 
fact,  before  registering  at  the  university  for  the  regulation 
courses,  the  prospective  candidates  almost  always  count  on 
spending  a  year  abroad. 

Every  year  at  Paris  is  held  a  competitive  examination  for 
the   certificate   of   proficiency   for  teaching  in   elementary 

classes  of  the  secondary  schools.     These  include 
Classes!17     onty  the  eighth  and  seventh  forms  so  that  the 

needs  each  year  are  not  very  great.  In  1908, 
there  were  fourteen  men's  appointments  to  be  made,  the  regu- 
lar number  for  recent  years.  For  eligibility  here  are  re- 
quired the  bachelor's  degree,  the  higher  diploma  of  the 
primary  system  with  the  full  certificate,  the  certificate  for 
teaching  in  the  normal  and  the  higher  primary  schools,  or  the 
girls'  secondary  diploma.  The  written  examination  includes 
a  French  essay,  English  or  German  (theme  and  translation 
with  the  aid  of  a  dictionary  entirely  in  the  foreign  language), 
history  and  geography,  and  science  (arithmetic,  algebra,  ge- 
ometry, and  either  physics  or  natural  science).  The  oral  ex- 
amination covers  reading  and  interpretation  of  a  French  text ; 
grammar,  reading  and  translation  with  grammatical  questions 
of  English  or  German ;  presentation  of  a  lesson  in  history  or 
geography ;  a  lesson  in  arithmetic,  physics,  or  natural  science ; 
and  finally  the  treatment  of  some  pedagogical  question. 

The   teachers   of  the  preparatory   classes  are  ordinarily 

drawn  from  the  regular  teaching  force  of  the  primary  school 

Other         system,  delegated  by  the  rector  of  the  academy 

Teaching      for  work  in  secondary  schools.     In  some  cases, 

Appointments.  notably  at  Une>  a  definite  attempt  is  made  to 


THE   TRAINING  OF   TEACHERS  375 

select  for  this  work  not  only  the  strongest  of  the  primary 
teachers,  but  those  best  capable  of  getting  along  without 
supervision,  for  once  a  teacher  is  placed  in  these  elementary 
classes,  he  or  she  is  practically  safe  from  any  expert  super- 
vision. He  is  out  of  the  jurisdiction  of  his  natural  head,  the 
primary  inspector,  and  the  academy  inspector  who  visits 
the  lycde  or  college  confines  his  attention  almost  entirely  to 
the  purely  secondary  classes.  Even  under  the  most  favor- 
able conditions  possible,  then,  even  the  good  primary  teacher 
is  likely  to  deteriorate  or  at  least  is  not  likely  to  grow  profes- 
sionally, for  in  these  lower  classes  of  the  secondary  school 
there  is  a  lack  of  stimulus  for  further  development.  Al- 
though I  have  come  across  some  excellent  teachers  in  these 
lower  grades,  I  must  confess  that  on  the  whole  I  did  not 
find  the  average  so  good  as  in  the  corresponding  grades  of 
the  primary  schools.  Of  course  one  must  not  forget  that  the 
aims  of  these  two  systems  are  quite  distinct,  that  the  work 
in  the  primary  school  must  be  complete  in  itself,  while  in 
the  secondary  school  it  is  constantly  looked  upon  as  the 
preparation  for  the  secondary  work  proper  which  is  to  fol- 
low. Yet  this  is  to  a  large  extent  the  very  basis  of  the 
criticism,  for  too  many  teachers  in  these  lower  forms  have 
imposed  bodily  upon  their  pupils  the  methods  and  processes 
that  may  succeed  admirably  with  advanced  classes.  The 
instruction  in  drawing  and  gymnastics  is  given  by  men 
that  hold  special  certificates  for  teaching  their  respective 
branches. 

It  is  worthy  of  remark  that  the  aggregation  as  well  as  the 
various  certificates  of  proficiency  and  even  the  simple  bacca- 
laureate are  purely  state  distinctions.     In  no 
case  is  the  sanction  granted  by  the  particular     sanctions, 
institution  where  the  work  is  done.     The  ex- 
amining juries  are  appointed  by  the  Minister,  and  the  diploma 
comes  from  the  State. 

Although  there  are  no  tuition  charges  for  instruction  beyond 
the  bachelor's  degree,  there  are  certain  fees  for  matricula- 
tion, registration,  library,  laboratory,  examination,  certificate, 


376  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

and  diploma  that  amount  to  quite  a  respectable  sum  by  the 
time  the  student  is  a  full-fledged  agrege.  The  bachelor's  de- 
gree thus  costs  140  francs :  40  francs  for  each  examination, 
10  for  each  certificate  of  successful  passage, 
and  40  francs  for  the  degree  itself.  The  mas- 
ter's degree  represents  an  expenditure  of  at  least  205  francs : 
an  annual  library  fee  of  10  francs,  30  francs  registration 
for  each  of  the  three  trimesters  in  the  academic  year,  and 
105  francs  for  examination,  certificate,  and  diploma  fees.  By 
reason  of  laboratory  charges  and  other  expenses,  the  master's 
degree  in  science  is  even  more  expensive,  amounting  to  300 
francs  for  the  physics,  chemistry,  and  natural  science  candi- 
dates. For  the  diploma  and  the  agregation  examinations  no 
fees  are  demanded,  for  it  is  a  fundamental  principle  in  France 
that  no  financial  requirement  shall  exclude  anybody  other- 
wise qualified  from  participation  in  any  state  competition. 
The  cost  of  preparation  for  the  normal  students  and  the 
scholarship  holders  is  likewise  nil,  although  the  ordinary 
candidate  has  to  pay  the  regular  university  fees  indicated 
above. 

Thus  the  examination  plays  fully  as  large  a  part  in  the 
preparation  of  the  young  men  for  the  teaching  profession  as 
it  did  in  the  case  of  the  young  women.  Every- 
peofes  wra*  fcnm£  Pr°ceeds  in  due,  orderly  fashion  with  fre- 
quently recurring  checks  to  test  the  quality 
of  the  residue.  While  it  undoubtedly  happens  that  some  are 
thrown  out  in  the  course  of  the  process  who  might  have 
become  good  teachers,  yet  on  the  other  hand  the  system 
renders  it  practically  impossible  for  any  unworthy  candidate 
to  glide  through.  Some  might  like  to  see  the  technique 
of  teaching  occupying  a  relatively  larger  part  in  the  pre- 
paratory process,  yet  one  may  rest  assured  that  the  secon- 
dary teacher  who  has  passed  through  this  training  is  a 
thorough  master  of  his  subject.  He  not  only  knows  his 
subject  matter,  but  his  knowledge  extends  far  beyond  the 
periphery  of  what  he  will  be  called  upon  to  present  to  his 
pupils  in  the  secondary  school.     Indeed,  as  one  of  the  pro- 


THE   TRAINING   OF   TEACHERS  377 

feasors  of  the  normal  school  told  me,  the  agreges  were  as 
competent  to  give  instruction  in  the  universities  as  they  were 
in  the  secondary  schools.  Once  out  in  the  schools,  they 
teach  their  specialties  and  nothing  more.  The  agrege  in 
letters  or  in  grammar  teaches  French,  Latin,  and  Greek ;  the 
agrege  in  history  and  geography  teaches  only  these  subjects. 
Under  no  conceivable  conditions  would  either  one  of  these 
men  be  called  upon  or  even  be  allowed  to  teach  a  class  in 
modern  languages  or  mathematics.  Individual  preferences 
and  individual  convenience  are  subordinated  to  the  good  of 
the  mass,  to  the  well  being  of  the  pupil,  the  school,  and  the 
State.  As  M.  Langlois  wrote  a  few  years  ago :  "  It  is  only 
in  England  and  America  where  individual  liberty  has  been 
pushed  to  the  point  of  charlatanism  so  that  anybody  at  all 
can  teach  anything  at  all." *  In  France,  teaching  is  a  profes- 
sion and  not  a  trade,  a  life  work  and  not  a  stepping  stone  to 
some  other  career.  The  Frenchman  takes  it  up  seriously  and 
is  proud  of  his  calling.  It  is  small  wonder,  then,  that  the 
staff  of  the  French  secondary  schools  is  a  splendidly  equipped 
and  an  efficient  body  of  men.  We  may  not  agree  with  all 
their  aims  and  their  ideals,  we  may  not  subscribe  to  all  their 
methods,  but  we  cannot  help  recognizing  their  intellectual 
ability  nor  can  we  refrain  from  admiring  them  as  effective 
instruments  for  accomplishing  the  work  they  have  in  hand. 

1  Langlois,   La  preparation  pro/essionelle  a   Venseignement  secondaire, 
p.  101. 


CHAPTEK  XVI 

SOME  CHARACTERISTICS  OF  THE  SCHOOLS  OF  THE 
TWENTIETH  CENTURY 

The  history  of  the  French  secondary  schools  presents  three 
well  marked  periods:  the  first  when  they  were  integrally 
bound  up  in  the  university  scheme  of  educa- 
Unrest™     ^on»  d°mmated  in  succession  by  scholasticism, 
humanism,  and  the  modifications  superinduced 
by  the  Eenaissance,  a  period  extending  from  the  time  of  Abe- 
lard  until  the  passing  of  the  "  old  regime  " ;  the  second  span- 
ning the  years  from  the  French  Eevolution  until  just  past  the 
dawn  of  the  twentieth  century,  really  a  period  of  storm  and 
stress,  marked  by  the  vain  struggle  of  the  Church  fighting  to 
retain  its  waning  position  of  vantage  and  control,  with  science 
constantly  striving  to  establish  its  right  to  rank  with  the  older 
disciplines ;  and  we  have  but  yesterday  crossed  the  threshold 
of  the  new  era,  marked  by  the  reorganization  of  the  secondary 
v  school  system  in  1902.     Science  has  won  its  battle,  and  new 
N&  problems   are   unfolding    themselves,   emanating   from   the 
\^r  changed  conditions  that  a  new  world  is  bringing  forth.     This 
^/^  reform  of  1902  is  France's  solution  for  the  problem  of  the 
\yr      educational  imrest  that  has  been  growing  more  and  more  acute 
in  the  great  nations  of  the  world  for  the  past  few  years,  but 
it  is  yet  too  early  to  appreciate  all  this  dispassionately.     Dif- 
fering essentially  from  the  German  solution,  time  alone  can 
determine  which  nation  has  solved  the  question  the  more 
sanely.     Indeed,  one  is  likely  to  find  that  both  are  right, 
that  there  is  no  one  solution,  but  that,  after  all,  each  people 
must  work  out  its  own  problems  in  its  own  way,  culling  what 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF   TWENTIETH  CENTURY    379 

suggestions  it  may  from  its  neighbors'  efforts.  Everywhere  jy 
there  is  a  trend  toward  a  closer  integration  of  the  schools  and 
their  work  with  the  needs  of  everyday  life.  In  Germany 
this  is  manifested  in  the  lower  school  system  by  the  rise  of 
trade  and  vocational  schools,  both  in  the  regular  course  and 
in  the  continuation  school  movement,  while  in  the  secondary 
field,  we  find  the  breaking  away  from  the  old  classical  Gym- 
nasium and  the  decided  leaning  toward  those  institutions 
that  stand  for  the  so-called  Realien.  In  the  United  States 
the  same  ferment  is  working,  the  "  set "  being  most  pronounced 
toward  the  development  of  industrial  and  agricultural  instruc- 
tion, the  narrower  commercial  and  manual  branches,  which 
may  be  looked  upon  as  the  forerunners  of  this  whole  move- 
ment with  us,  having  undergone  a  veritable  renaissance  so  as 
almost  to  be  unrecognizable.  The  necessity  for  all  this  change 
is  due  not  so  much  to  the  fact  that  the  school  is  growing  away 
from  life,  as  that  life  has  grown  away  from  the  school.  The 
school  has  remained  stationary,  a  proper  conservative  force  in 
the  community,  but  the  time  has  long  passed  since  this  con- 
servatism became  obsoletism.  We  are  now  in  the  very  midst  - 
of  a  frantic  struggle  to  bring  about  a  condition  of  equilibrium 
between  the  two. 

In  France  the  extreme  radical  view  is   typified  by   the 
ideas  of  the  late  M.  Demolins.     Convinced  that  the  superi- 
ority of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  bore  a  direct  re- 
lation to  the  basic  principles  of  the  national    A0fi^^e 
education,    he    selected   some   of   the   salient 
phases  of  English  school  life,  and  attempted  to  impose  them 
upon  the  French  boy.     The  tlcole  des  Roches  and  a  few  other 
similar  institutions  represent  the  embodiment  of  these  no- 
tions.    The  motto  on  the  escutcheon  of  the  school,  "well 
equipped  for  life,"  will  suggest  the  fundamental  conception 
upon  which  it  was  founded.    Analogously,  and  at  the  same 
time  not  unfairly,  one  might  suggest  as  a  device  for  the  pres- 
ent day  lycdes,  "  well  equipped  for  examinations."     M.  De- 
molins said  frankly :  "  We  propose  to  create  in  France  a  new 
type  of  school,  better  adapted  to  the  exigencies  of  actual 


1 


380  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

life."  1  And  with  that  in  view  he  established  a  school,  pat- 
terned largely  after  Abbotsholme  in  England,  where  physical 
activity  (including  play  and  manual  work)  and  a  closer  rela- 
tion between  teachers  and  pupils  are  the  dominant  charac- 
teristics. The  failure  of  the  ideas  to  be  copied  widely  and 
the  opposition  to  these  endeavors  that  unquestionably  exists 
in  France  to-day  may  perhaps  be  accounted  for  in  an  analysis 
offered  by  M.  Demolins  himself.  In  other  words,  socially 
considered,  France  and  England  belong  to  two  quite  distinct 
types  of  people ;  the  former,  in  common  with  Germany  and 
the  other  countries  of  Western  Europe,  represents  the  people 
of  "  communistic  formation,"  and  the  latter,  in  conjunction 
with  the  Scandinavian  nations,  belongs  to  the  people  of 
"particularistic  formation."2  The  first  of  these  depends 
upon  the  community  or  group ;  the  second  upon  the  individ- 
uals in  that  group.  Thus  it  is  plain  to  be  seen  that  any 
attempt  to  emphasize  individual  initiative  (as  we  understand 
the  term)  among  the  people  of  "  communistic  formation,"  is 
bound  to  be  met  with  disfavor  if  not  with  actual  hostility. 
Furthermore,  the  relatively  heavy  expenses  of  the  instruction 
at  the  schools  like  that  of  M.  Demolins  have  likewise  mili- 
tated against  their  success.  The  French  parent  is  going  to 
consider  very  carefully  before  he  pays  twenty-five  hundred 
francs  per  year  for  his  boy's  schooling,  when  the  facilities  of 
the  very  best  of  the  state  lyce*es  are  at  his  command  for  a 
ittle  more  than  half  that  sum.  It  would  be  unfair  to  say 
that  these  schools  have  not  succeeded,  but  in  view  of  the  small 
number  of  such  institutions  that  have  already  been  founded 
one  would  hardly  be  justified  in  according  any  large  measure 
of  success  to  the  movement.  Indeed,  it  is  hard  to  see  how 
these  schools  can  compete  successfully  with  the  government 
schools,  for,  aside  from  the  disadvantage  on  the  score  of 
expense,  those  private  venture  schools  cannot  in  the  long  run 
attract  the  highest  type  of  teachers.  The  best  men  will  nat- 
urally prefer  the  state  appointment  with  its  higher  social 

1  Demolins,  L'education  nouvelle,  Preface,  p.  v. 

2  Demolins,  A  quoi  tient  la  superiority  des  Anglo-Saxons,  p.  53,    et  seq. 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  TWENTIETH  CENTURY    381 

standing,  the  security  of  the  tenure,  the  certain  though  slow 
advancement,  and  the  assurance  of  a  pension  at  the  end. 
With  such  a  highly  centralized  state  system  of  education  as 
one  finds  in  France,  the  only  hope  for  any  effective  reform  must 
come  through  the  central  authorities  themselves.  There  is 
little  chance  of  effecting  much  through  the  medium  of  such 
isolated  institutions  as  the  £cole  des  Roches  and  kindred 
establishments. 

The  trend  toward  vocational  training  which  is  so  unmis- 
takable in  Germany  and  the  United  States  is  not  so  clearly 
defined  in  the  public  school  system  of  France. 
This  neglect   in   the   last   named   country   is     Vocational 

0  *  Training. 

more  apparent  than  real,  for  the  demand  there 
is  being  met  by  the  establishment  of  a  parallel  system  of 
schools  under  the  direction  of  the  Minister  of  Commerce  and 
Industry.  The  aim  of  these  schools  is  primarily  vocational, 
the  intellectual  aspect  of  their  work  being  purely  subordi- 
nate. Where  the  emphasis  is  still  upon  the  intellectual  side, 
the  work  is  carried  on  in  the  schools  of  the  department  of 
public  instruction.  Besides  these  public  schools  under  the 
Minister  of  Commerce  and  Industry,  there  are  many  similar 
industrial  schools  under  the  public  charge  that  have  been 
established  by  municipal,  departmental,  or  private  munifi- 
cence. Practically  all  of  these,  as  well  as  the  commercial, 
industrial,  and  agricultural  sections  of  the  higher  primary 
schools  are  intended  to  supplement  the  educational  facilities 
offered  to  the  children  of  the  lower  bourgeoisie  and  the 
laboring  classes.  Thus  far  the  secondary  school  authorities 
have  not  recognized  the  claims  of  any  form  of  manual  work 
to  a  place  in  their  curriculum,  despite  the  fact  that  there 
were  evidences  of  a  tendency  in  that  direction  among  some 
of  the  members  of  the  superior  council  back  in  1903  or 
earlier.1  Indeed,  as  has  already  been  pointed  out,  even  in 
such  subjects  as  physics,  chemistry,  and  biology,  where  the 
value  of  the  experimentation  would  seem  to  be  axiomatic, 

1  Compayr£,  Recent  educational  progress  in  France,  Ed.  Rev.,  Jan.,  1904, 
p.  30. 


382  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

the  doing  side  of  the  work  has  been  strangely  neglected. 
For  generations  the  curriculum  of  the  secondary  school 
has  existed  solely  for  the  "  idea  thinker."  So  while  appar- 
ently the  character  of  the  instruction  has  succeeded  in  de- 
veloping a  lot  of  "  idea  thinkers,"  the  success  has  not  been 
so  great  as  would  appear  at  first  sight,  for  since  all  the  checks 
upon  the  system  emphasize  this  same  mental  aspect,  the 
whole  scheme  of  work  exercises  a  powerful  selective  function, 
and  the  residue,  or  those  that  survive  such  a  struggle,  rep- 
resent in  the  first  place  only  those  that  are  strong  in  abstract 
thinking,  and  in  the  second  place  those  that  are  able  to 
profit  most  by  that  method  of  instruction.  ^  There  is  little  or 
no  place  in  such  a  scheme  of  education  for  the  concrete 
thinker  or  for  the  one  in  whom  the  capacity  for  abstract 
thinking  appears  late.  -  The  latter  is  usually  so  handicapped 
when  he  eventually  develops  this  power,  that  he  drops  by 
the  way  in  the  latter  part  of  the  course,  solely  for  the 
lack  of  the  concrete  material  at  the  proper  time  that  might 
have  accelerated  the  growth  of  this  higher  power. 

The  more  one  studies  educational  history,  the  more  is  one 
forced  to  the  conclusion  that  a  nation's  educational  system 

The  Sohool  *s  ^ne  natural  outgrowth  of  the  social  ideals  of 
and  the       the  people.     These  latter  determine  the  school. 

Social  Ideals,  ^h^  the  school  plays  a  large  part  in  perpetu- 
ating these  ideals,  it  has  relatively  little  power  to  modify 
them,  and  then  only  when  it  is  backed  up  by  public  opin- 
ion. Thus  the  French  educational  system  is  necessarily  the 
outgrowth  of  the  social  conditions  there.  On  more  than 
one  occasion  it  has  been  proposed  to  make  instruction  in  the 
secondary  schools  free,  as  it  is  in  both  the  primary  schools 
and  the  universities,  but  the  project  has  hardly  been  con- 
sidered seriously  on  account  of  the  immense  financial  expen- 
diture involved.  The  only  step  that  has  been  taken  in  that 
direction  thus  far  has  been  to  separate  in  the  budget  the 
expenses  entailed  by  the  boarding  pupils  from  those  that 
properly  belong  to  the  educational  account.  It  has  long 
been  notorious  that  the  cost  of  maintaining  the  boarding 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF   TWENTIETH  CENTURY    383 

pupils  is  considerably  in  excess  of  the  income  paid  by  these 
pupils.  This  is  a  questionable  distribution  of  state  funds 
that  partakes  decidedly  of  unfair  paternalism.  When  the 
girls'  lyc^es  were  first  founded,  upwards  of  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago,  the  government  studiously  avoided  this  diffi- 
culty by  refusing  to  establish  boarding  departments  in  con- 
nection therewith.  Where  these  boarding  departments  exist 
at  girls'  schools  they  are  maintained  at  private  or  municipal 
expense.  Thus  the  professional  classes  in  France  are  re- 
cruited from  a  comparatively  small  proportion  of  the  total 
population,  the  vast  majority  of  the  people  being  rendered 
ineligible  from  such  preferment  from  purely  financial  rea- 
sons —  a  condition  that  does  not  accord  with  our  American 
ideas  of  demoVacy  and  equality  of  opportunity.  The  fact 
that  the  secondary  schools  exist  primarily  for  the  recruit- 
ment of  the  professional  classes  renders  the  likelihood  of 
introducing  vocational  training  into  these  schools  more  re- 
mote than  ever.  Such  is  the  pressure  imposed  upon  teachers 
and  pupils  alike  by  the  examinations  impending  at  the  end 
of  the  course,  that  a  subject  not  required  by  this  test  has 
small  chance  of  fair  treatment  in  the  schools,  especially  as 
the  examination  period  approaches.  The  lack  of  consider- 
ation devoted  to  the  relative  values  of  the  various  subjects 
militates  decidedly  against  the  prospect  of  any  immediate 
change  in  this  regard. 

The  comparatively  few  secondary  teachers  who  evidence  a 
social  interest  in  the  welfare  of  their  pupils  only  intensify 
the  general  feeling  that  the  chief  aim  of  the 
French  secondary  school  is  scholarship.     This     Al^hool!he 
merely  emphasizes   the  "  communistic   forma- 
tion "  characterization  of  M.  Demolins,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.    The  individual  is  developed  to  the  highest 
degree,  not  for  his  own  advancement,  but  for  the  national 
good.     Thus  there  is  no  particular  effort  to  raise  the  general 
standard  of  all  secondary  school  pupils  except  so  far  as  that  is 
conducive  to  the  development  of  a  higher  type  of  leader.     In 
other  words,  the  selective  function  of  the  French  secondary 


384  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

school  is  one  of  its  most  highly  developed  features.  This 
process  extends  over  a  term  of  years,  and  every  prize  offered, 
every  honorable  mention  awarded,  only  tends  to  engrave 
this  characteristic  the  more  deeply  upon  the  very  nature  of 
the  people.  It  is  not  long  since  every  secondary  school 
sought  to  make  a  record  for  itself  in  the  general  compe- 
tition, an  annual  examination  held  in  Paris,  whose  prime 
purpose  was  to  stimulate  the  individual  to  extraordinary 
effort,  but  here  again  not  for  the  benefit  that  might  accrue 
to  the  individual,  but  because  the  higher  the  standard  at- 
tained here,  the  greater  the  chance  of  turning  out  an  efficient 
type  of  general,  engineer,  lawyer,  doctor,  teacher.  Since  the 
abolition  of  this  examination  in  1904,  after  an  existence  of 
more  than  a  century  and  a  half,  the  chief  interest  of  each 
school  seems  to  center  upon  the  number  of  successful  can- 
didates it  can  send  up  for  the  baccalaureate,  and  more  par- 
ticularly upon  the  success  of  its  boys  in  the  competitive 
examinations  for  admission  to  the  various  government  higher 
schools.  The  entrance  courts  of  some  of  the  lyc^es  with  their 
honor  tablets  bearing  the  names  of  former  pupils  who  have 
been  successful  in  these  competitive  examinations  remind  one 
strongly  of  the  trophy  room  walls  of  an  American  college  gym- 
nasium, inscribed  with  the  names  of  famous  athletes,  but  these 
tablets  bear  silent  testimony  to  the  primacy  of  the  scholar- 
ship ideal  in  the  mind  of  the  French  secondary  school  boy. 
It  is  undeniable  that  this  whole  system  succeeds  admirably 
in  attaining  the  end  set  before  it,  and  that  by  a  frequent  and 
careful  sifting  of  all  the  best  material  drawn,  as  has  previ- 
ously been  indicated,  from  a  relatively  small  proportion  of 
the  neople,  the  State  selects  the  most  promising  individuals 
from  whom  to  develop  its  future  leaders.  It  is  thus  spared 
the  necessity  of  spending  vast  sums  upon  large  numbers  of 
individuals  who  have  not  the  mental  endowment  to  enable 
them  to  rise  to  the  highest  levels.  In  any  such  scheme  as 
this,  it  is  always  significant  to  consider  those  that  nave  fallen 
by  the  way,  in  other  words,  to  "  count  the  dead,"  for  the  mor- 
tality in  this  particular  instance  is  very  heavy.     Perhaps  the 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF   TWENTIETH  CENTURY    385 

end  has  been  attained  at  too  great  a  cost.  Perhaps,  on  the 
other  hand,  the  French  temperament  has  need  of  this  ob- 
jective incentive  in  the  way  of  rewards  and  distinctions 
in  order  to  draw  forth  the  best  that  lies  within.  Indeed, 
more  than  one  French  teacher  has  declared  this  to  be  the 
fact ;  but  it  is  significant  to  observe  that  there  has  been  no 
appreciable  falling  off  in  scholarship  on  account  of  the  aboli- 
tion of  the  general  competition,  despite  the  pessimistic  proph- 
ecies of  some  of  the  partisans  of  the  traditional  practice. 

To  the  inspection  of  the  casual  observer,  the  schools  of  the 
twentieth  century,  barring  the  case  of  the  modern  languages, 
present  little  outward  difference  from  those  preceding  the  re- 
form. There  has  been  no  marked  modification  in  buildings 
or  equipment ;  there  has  been  no  new  subject  added  to  the 
curriculum ;  and  except  in  the  modern  languages,  as  noted 
above,  there  have  been  few  radical  changes  in  methods  of 
teaching.  It  has  been  a  reorganization  of  courses  where  *S 
the  pupil  can  more  readily  find  something  to  fit  his  tastes. 
This  is  nothing  like  free  election  of  subjects,  but  rather  a 
kind  of  group  system.  To  .use  a  figure  of  M.  Compayr£, \ 
the  youth  in  a  lyc£e  is  in  the  position  of  a  traveler  in  a  central 
railroad  station  from  which  four  trains  are  about  to  depart. 
He  may  select  the  train  that  is  going  in  the  direction  he 
desires  to  go,  but  once  his  choice  is  made,  once  seated  in  his 
train,  he  is  practically  compelled  to  continue  therein  until  the 
end  of  the  journey.  Although  this  same  writer  recognized 
the  possibility  of  a  still  greater  freedom  of  election  among 
the  different  subjects  of  instruction,  no  definite  tendency 
toward  expanding  this  slight  measure  of  freedom  has  yet 
appeared,  but  this  step  is  significant  as  marking  a  wide 
departure  from  previous  conditions.  Indeed,  such  ajiurther 
modification  would  be  little  short  of  revolutionary.  The 
relatively  rigid  stratification  of  the  French  social  life  with  its 
correlative  early  specialization  in  school  activities  would 
almost  seem  to  exclude  such  a  change  from  the  realm  of 
probabilities. 

i  Ed.  Rev.,  XXV.,  p.  136.  * 

25  • 


386  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

There  is  one  other  phase  of  French  school  life  that  deserves 

a  passing  mention,  especially  since  it  finds  no  place  in  the 

official  reports  —  the  growing  interest  in  ath- 

Athtetfcs"1  let,ics-  Unfortunately  on  account  of  the  reason 
just  stated,  the  subject  does  not  admit  of  sta- 
tistical treatment,  but  despite  the  fearfully  crowded  day  of 
the  secondary  school  boy,  traces  of  a  growing  interest  in 
various  forms  of  organized  sport  are  almost  everywhere  dis- 
coverable. This  change  is  significant,  not  so  much  from  the 
progress  already  achieved  as  for  the  radical  departure  from  the 
traditional  apathy  toward  these  activities.  The  contrast  to 
the. conditions  that  prevailed  even  six  years  ago  is  particularly 
marked.  Whereas,  formerly,  this  interest  was  entirely  spon- 
taneous, sporadic,  and  transitory,  working  itself  out  in  a 
"  scrub  "  game  of  football  during  the  afternoon  recreation 
period,  it  is  now  beginning  to  assume  a  more  organized  form. 
School  football  teams  have  been  formed  at  most  of  the  schools, 
especially  those  whose  rural  situation  simplifies  the  question 
of  a  suitable  and  accessible  playground.  The  schools  of  Paris 
have  a  series  of  games  annually  for  first  and  second  teams  in 
Kugby  and  Association  football,  as  well  as  cross-country  races, 
short  dashes,  field  events,  and  fencing  contests,  all  organized 
by  the  national  athletic  association.  Still  anything  like  the 
general  interest  in  sport  or  the  athletic  hero  that  prevails 
so  largely  in  our  American  schools  is  absolutely  unknown. 
Much  less  is  there  any  encouragement  toward  the  develop- 
ment of  a  capacity  for  leadership  or  executive  control  that  free, 
spontaneous  participation  in  athletics  under  student  direction 
inevitably  provides.  Yet  the  presence  of  even  this  modicum 
of  activity  is  especially  noteworthy  as  marking  an  evolution 
in  the  interests  of  the  French  schoolboy. 

The  new  secondary  school,  then,  embodies  an  amount  of 

flexibility  of  course  and  variety  of  subject  matter,  that  would 

have  dumbfounded  the  French  school  man  of 

thebChange.    even  a  °LUarter  of  a  century  ago.     It  represents 

a  definite  attempt  to  make  the  school  respond 

more  adequately  *and  readily  to  the  changed  ideals  of  the 


CHARACTERISTICS  OF  TWENTIETH  CENTURY    387 

modern  industrial  and  social  conditions.  Although  even 
its  most  ardent  partisans  do  not  claim  that  the  present  ad- 
justment is  perfect,  such  is  the  conservatism  of  the  educational 
authorities  that  it  is  likely  to  be  many  a  long  day  before  any 
such  fundamental  changes  take  place  again;  for  however 
radical  the  Frenchman  may  be  in  his  theories,  he  is  cautious 
in  experimentation,  and  conservative  to  a  degree  in  modifying 
the  time-honored  traditions.  One  has  only  to  point  out 
the  painstaking  and  voluminous  parliamentary  investigation 
that  preceded  the  late  reform  in  support  of  this  contention. 
Above  all  the  system  is  thoroughly  French  and  adapted  to  the 
needs  and  conditions  of  French  life.  It  is  eminently  fitted 
"  to  continue  that  high  intellectual  culture  which  for  several 
centuries  has  been  France's  ornament  and  one  of  her  most 
precious  and  dearest  glories." 1 

1  M.  Chaumi£,  quoted  by  M.  Compayr£,  Ed.  Rev.,  Feb.,  1903,  p.  142. 


APPENDIX  A 

COPY  OF  MASTER'S  DIPLOMA  OF  ONE  PETRUS 
MANS  ART,  1511 " 

Gertificat  d'&udes  cCun  Barbiste  du  temps 
d'Antoine  Pelin, 
Imprim6  dans  DUBOULA  Y,  Historia  universitatis  Parisiensis,  t.  VI.,  935, 
Pour  les  anntes  1511-1514. 

Ego  Furcaeus  de  Cambray,  theologorum  Parisiensium  minimus, 
certifico  dudum  me  rexisse  unum  cursum  artium  integrum  in  col- 
legio  divae  Barbarae  Parisius ;  in  quo  quidem  cursu  artium  Petrus 
MANS  ART,  diocesis  Noviomensis,  tunc  scholaris,  studuit  sub  me 
omnes  libros,  secundum  consuetudinem  universitatis  Parisiensis 
requisitos  ad  gradum  licentiarum  artium.  Quern  quidem  gradum 
licentiarum  artium  sub  me  adeptus  est  anno  Domini  MDXIII,  ante 
Pascha.  Et  quia  calendissimus  magister  noster  Pelin,  tunc  primar- 
ius  dicti  collegii  divae  Barbarae,  dudum  defunctus  est,  certifico 
eumdem  Petrum  MANSART  fuisse  verum  artium  scholasticum, 
non  discholum  nee  vagabundum,  sed  moram  trahentem  in  dicto 
collegio  per  tres  annos  cum  dimidio  aut  eo  circiter,  durante  scilicet 
praedicto  cursu  meo  artium.  Teste  signo  meo  manuali  huic 
cedulae  apposito,  anno  MDXXXV,  die  vero  martis  xxx  et  pe- 
nultima,  ante  Pascha. 

1  Reprinted  in  Quicherat,  Histoire  de  Sainte-Barbe,  I.,  p.  324. 


APPENDIX  B 

CURRICULUM   OF  THE   COLLEGES  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITY.     STATUTES   OF    1600 1 

YOUNGER  BOYS.  Rules  of  grammar ;  selections  from  Terence, 
from  Cicero's  Letters,  from  Virgil's  Bucolics,  and  from  other 
authors  of  like  purity. 

MORE  ADVANCED  PUPILS.  Selections  from  Sallust,  from 
Caesar's  Commentaries,  from  Cicero's  De  ojjiciis  and  his  easier 
Orations,  as  well  as  Virgil  and  Ovid.  Latin  grammar  reviewed 
with  Greek  grammar. 

SECOND  AND  FIRST  FORMS.  More  important  works  of 
Cicero,  u  e.,  the  Orations,  the  Tusculan  disputations,  and 
other  philosophical  works,  De  oratore,  Brutus,  the  Rhetoric, 
and  the  Topica  being  read  with  Quintilian ;  Virgil,  Horace, 
Catullus,  Tibullus,  Propertius,  Persius,  Juvenal,  and  some- 
times Plutarch. 

Greek  :  grammar ;  selections  from  Homer,  either  the  Iliad 
or  the  Odyssey  ;  the  Works  and  days  of  Hesiod  ;  the  Idylls  of 
Theocritus  ;  some  of  the  dialogues  of  Plato  ;  some  orations  of 
Demosthenes  and  Isocrates  ;  the  Hymns  of  Pindar  and  others 
of  his  works,  according  to  the  choice  of  the  master  and  the 
ability  of  the  pupils. 

PHILOSOPHY  FORM.  First  year  :  in  the  morning,2  the  Cate- 
gories, the  Analytics,  and  the  Topics  of  Aristotle  ;  in  the  after- 
noon, the  Ethics. 

Second  year  :  in  the  morning,  the  Physics  of  Aristotle ;  in 
the  afternoon,  the  Metaphysics,  especially  books  iv.  and  xi. 
At  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  single  hour  was  devoted  to  a 
study  of  the  sphere  and  some  books  of  Euclid. 

1  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  VUniversite  de  Paris,  Appendix,  pp.  4-5. 

2  The  morning  class  was  from  eight  until  eleven  o'clock,  and  the  afternoon 
from  two  until  five. 


PARIS   COLLEGES, 


APPENDIX  C 

1600,    CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER  OF 
FOUNDATION  x 


t  1180 

[des  18  ou  de  Notre  Dame] 

*  1336 

de  Lisieux 

* 

d'Harcourt 

t  1339 

d'Hubant 

t  1248 

des  Bons-Enfants-St.  Vic- 

t 1341 

d'Autun 

tor 

t  1343 

[de  Mignon] 

1256 

de  Sorbonne 

t  1348 

de  Cambrai 

1271 

[de  Calvi] 

t 

de  St.  Michel 

*  1280 

d'Harcourt 

1353 

[de  Boncourt] 

t  1295 

des  Chollets 

t  1354 

de  Justice 

f  1302 

d'Arras 

t  1358 

de  Boissy 

* 

du  Cardinal  Lemoine 

t  1368 

du  Tr6sorier 

*  1304 

de  Navarre 

t  1370 

de  Maitre  Gervais 

t  1308 

de  Bayeux 

t  1380 

de  Daimville 

t  1313 

de  Laon 

f  1393 

de  Fortet 

*  1314 

de  Montaigu 

t  1412 

de  Reims 

t  1317 

de  Cornouailles 

*  1423 

de  la  Marche 

t 

de  Narbonne 

t  1424 

de  S£ez 

f  1322 

de  Presles-Beauvais 

1463 

[de  Coquerel] 

* 

du  Plessis 

t  1526 

[du  Mans] 

1323 

des  Ecossais 

t  1556 

de  Sainte-Barbe  3 

t  1325 

[de  Tr6guier] 

*  1569 

des  Grassins 

1329 

[de  Marmoutiers] 

t  1331 

de  Bourgogne 

*  1661 

Mazarin  ou  des  Quatre 

f  1333 

de  Tours 

Nations 3 

1334 

[des  Lombards] 

f  Suppressed  and  joined  with  Louis-le-Grand  by  letters  patent,  Nov. 
21,  1763.    Chauvin,  Histoire  des  lycees  et  colleges,  pp.  37,  285-291. 

*  Full  course  colleges.  No  one  of  these  was  consolidated  with  Louis- 
le-Grand  at  the  above  date. 

[  ]  Colleges  marked  thus  disappeared  during  the  seventeenth  century. 
Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris,  p.  38. 

In  several  instances,  colleges  are  found  marked  [  ],  and  f.  These  are 
discrepancies  between  Jourdain  and  Chauvin  which  it  has  been  im- 
possible to  reconcile. 

1  Lantoine,  Histoire  de  V enseignement  secondaire  en  France  au  XVIIe 
siecle,  p.  276. 

2  Sainte-Barbe  existed  without  endowment  from  1469  to  1556.  The  date 
here  given  is  that  of  the  foundation  of  the  endowed  college. 

8  Mazarin,  1661,  does  not  properly  belong  in  this  list.  It  has  been  added 
here  for  purposes  of  general  information. 


392 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


COLLEGES 

OF 

THE 

RELIGIOUS   ORDERS 

1221 

des  Jacobins 

1269    deCluny 

1230 

des  Cordeliers 

1297    des  Blancs-Manteaux 

1244 

des  Bernardins 

1515    de  la  Merci 

1252 

de  Fremont-re" 

1564    de  Clermont 

1259 

des  Carmes 

APPENDIX  D 


CHRONOLOGICAL  ORDER  OF  FOUNDATION  OF  THE 
UNIVERSITIES  OF  FRANCE  IN  EXISTENCE  AT 
THE  END   OF   THE   SEVENTEENTH   CENTURY1 


1200  Paris 
1229  Toulouse 
1289  Montpellier 
1303  Avignon 
1306  Orleans 


1332  Cahors 

1364  Angers 

1365  Orange 
1409  Aix 

1431  Poitiers 

1432  Caen 


1452  Valence 
1460  Nantes 
1464  Bourges 
1473  Bordeaux2 
1547  Reims 


UNIVERSITIES   OF    COUNTRIES     SUBSEQUENTLY    ADDED 
TO  FRANCE 


1424  Dole 
1562  Douai 


1564  Besancon 
1572  Pont-a-Mousson 


1621  Strasbourg 


1  Jourdain,  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris,  p.  2,  note. 

2  This  date  is  supplied  from  Kilian  and  other  writers  to  correct  the  evident 
error,  1441,  which  appears  in  Jourdain.     (F.  E.  F.) 


APPENDIX  E 

CURRICULUM  OF  THE  JESUITS :  RATIO  STUDIORUM,  1599 » 


Class 


Subjects  of  Instruction,  and  Time  Allowance 


Morning 


Afternoon 


Authors  and 
Remarks 


Sixth 


Recitation  on  the 
Latin  author,  and  on 
Latin  and  Greek  gram- 
mar    .    . f  h. 

Correction  of  task      .      £  h. 

Latin  translation,  re- 
view and  advance    .    .      f  h. 

Mother  tongue  and 
accessory  exercises   .    .      £  h. 


Recitation  on  the 
Latin  author,  and  on 
the  grammar      .    .    .    . 

Translation  of  Latin 
author.  Greek  reading, 
a  quarter-hour  twice  a 
week.  Dictation  of  the 
composition  work     .    . 

Discussion.  Mother 
tongue    and    accessory 


1    h. 


1    h. 


|k 


Cicero,  Extracts; 
Phaedrus,  Fables  ; 
Nepos,  Lives.    — — 

Greek,  Exercises 
in  reading  and  writ- 
ing. 


Fifth 


Recitation  on  the 
Latin  author,  and  on 
Latin  and  Greek  gram- 
mar      f  h. 

Correction  of  task      .      £  h. 

Translation,  review 
and  advance      ....     f  h. 

Mother  tongue  and 
accessory  exercises   .    .     £  h. 


Recitation  on  the 
Latin  author,  and  on 
the  grammar     ....    1    h. 

Translation  of  Latin 
and  Greek  authors  al- 
ternately every  two 
days.  Dictation  of  the 
composition  work     .    .    1    h. 

Discussion.  Mother 
tongue  and  accessory 
exercises £  h. 


Cicero,  Selected 
letters;  Csesar; 
Ovid,  Selections; 
^Esop,  Fables; 
Cebes;  Lucian,  Se- 
lected dialogues. 


Fourth 


Recitation  on  the 
Latin  author,  and  on 
the  Latin  and  Greek 
grammar f  h. 

Correction  of  task      .      \  h. 

Translation,  review 
and  advance      ....     f  h. 

Mother  tongue  and 
accessory  exercises   .    .     J  h. 


Recitation  on  Latin 
grammar,  versification, 
and  the  author,  on  suc- 
cessive days 1    h. 

Translation  of  a  Latin 
poet  and  a  Greek  au- 
thor, alternately  every 
other  day.  Dictation  of 
the  composition  work  .    1     h. 

Discussion.  Mother 
tongue  and  accessory 
exercises £  h. 


Cicero,  Letters,  De 
amicitia,  De  senec- 
tute;  Easy  speeches 
of  Cicero;  Sallust; 
Quintus  Curtius ; 
Extracts  from  Livy, 
Ovid,  Catullus,  Ti- 
bullus,  Propertius, 
and  Virgil:  Ec- 
logues ;  Georgics,  4th 
bk. ;  Mneid,  5th  and 
7th  bks.  

Greek:  St.  Chrys- 
ostom,  Xenophon, 
and  other  similar 
authors. 


1  Plan  d'ttudes  des  J4suites,  in  Greard,  Enseignement  secondaire,  II.,  pp.  284-285. 


APPENDIX  E 

395 

Class 

Subjects  of  Instruction,  and  Time  Allowance 

Authors  and 

Morning 

Afternoon 

Remarks 

Third 

Recitation      on      the 
Latin  author,    and   on 
the  grammar.    General 
principles   of  elocution 
and  style £  h. 

Correction  of  task      .      £  h. 

Translation,       review 
and  advance      ....     £  h. 

Mother    tongue    and 
accessory  exercises   .    .     i  h. 

Recitation      on      the 
Latin   author,   and   on 
the  grammar      ....    1     h. 

Translation,     every 
other  day,  of   a  Latin 
poet,     and     a     Greek 
(or  interpretation   of  a 
French)    author.     Dic- 
tation   of    the    compo- 
sition work 1     h. 

Discussion  and  acces- 
sory exercises    ....     £  h. 

Cicero,  Speeches; 
Csesar;  Sallust; 
Livy;  Quintus  Cur- 
tius;  Mneid  (save 
the  fourth  book); 
Horace,  Odes  (se- 
lected).           

Greek:  Isocrates; 
St.  Chrysostom;  St. 
Basil;  Plato;  Plu- 
tarch; Phocylides; 
Theognis;  St.  Greg- 
ory of  Nazianzus; 
Synesius. 

Second 

No  special  program 

No  special  program 

No  special  pro- 
gram. 

Rhetoric 

) 

Memory  work.  Trans- 
lation, review  and  ad- 
vance       1    h. 

Reading  from  an  ora- 
tor,    review     and    ad- 
vance.    Dictation  of  a 
text   from  an   oration. 
Discussion    and    acces- 
sory exercises    ....   1    h. 

Translation     of    pas- 
sages from  the  rhetoric. 
Translation  of  a  Greek, 
or   interpretation   of   a 
French,  author  ....    1  h. 

Reading  from  one  of 
the  poets.      Correction 
of  the  task  of  the  morn- 
ing.    Dictation  of  the 
subject  of  an  oration   .   1  h. 

• 

For  the  principles 
of  rhetoric,  Cicero 
and  Quintilian.  No 
special  directions  as 
to  the  Latin  authors 
to  be  translated. 

Greek:  Demosthe- 
nes, Plato,  Thucy- 
dides,  Homer,  He- 
siod,  Pindar,  St. 
Gregory  of  Nazian- 
zus, St.  Basil,  St. 
Chrysostom. 

On  holidays  one 
of  the  historians  or 
some  passage  of  his- 
torical significance 
is  explained. 

APPENDIX  F 

EXTRACT  FROM  THE  CASH  ACCOUNT  OF  MONSIEUR 
FILLEY  DE  LA  BARRE1 

1706-1728 

The  young  Filley  at  the  age  of  nine  was  sent  to  Paris  to  board 
with  his  guardian,  Denis  Leroux,  paying  therefor  300Z.2  per  year 
from  1714  to  1719,  360/.  in  1720,  4001.  in  1721,  and  450Z.  in 
1722. 

"The  Jesuits  gave  no  elementary  instruction  and  took  pupils  only 
from  the  sixth  form.  So  Filley  was  entrusted,  April  23,  to  a  school- 
master or  tutor  named  Dusossois.  The  latter  received  21.  per 
month,  and  31.  beginning  with  the  following  October.  Furthermore 
he  received  various  New  Year's  presents:  two  capons  (costing  21. 
10s.)  in  1715  ;  one  capon  (ll.  5s.)  in  1716  ;  two  pullets  (ll.  16s.)  in 
1717  ;  one  turkey  (ll.  18s.)  in  1718  ;  two  pullets  (ll.  10s.)  in  1719  ; 
one  capon  (21.)  in  1720.  The  first  studies  of  the  young  pupil  were 
limited  to  religion  and  grammar  ;  his  books  were  Imitation  of  Christ 
(21.)  and  a  Psalm  book  (12s.).  During  the  next  two  years  he  had  two 
Rudiments  (elementary  Latin  grammars)  at  10s.  and  15s.  respectively ; 
two  Prayer  Books  at  16s.  (1714-1715);  two  Rudiments  at  10s.  (1715- 
1716).  The  boy  did  not  trouble  himself  with  work,  and  he  was  so 
careless  that  his  books  were  soon  ruined  or  lost  and  had  to  be  replaced. 
To  these  expenses  must  be  added  the  cost  of  heating,  which  amounted 
to  ll.  5s.  or  ll.  10s.  for  all  winter,  and  the  fees  of  the  dancing  teacher, 
41.  per  month.  These  lessons  lasted  from  April,  1715,  to  May,  1716. 
The  little  Filley  did  not  take  life  too  seriously.  From  July,  1714, 
he  spent  15s.    monthly  in  pleasure.     Besides  this,  thanks  to  the  good 

1  Dtjbroux,  transcribed  from  the  Archives  de'partementales  des  Ardennes 
and  published  in  the  Revue  universitaire,  1906,  I.,  pp.  316-320. 

2  The  monetary  value  of  the  livre,  composed  of  twenty  sous,  was  practically 
equivalent  to  that  of  the  franc  of  to-day.  It  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  its 
purchasing  power  was  considerably  greater. 


APPENDIX  F  397 

nature  of  his  guardian,  he  spent  at  the  Saint-Laurent  fair,  September 
13,  1714,  21.  17s.  for  sugared  almonds,  a  Saint-Louis,  a  turtle,  and  the 
marionettes  ;  in  August,  1714,  and  1715,  It  10s.,  and  10s.  for  tickets  to 
a  tragedy  played  by  the  Jesuits  ;  November  15,  1714,  11.  for  a  ticket  to 
the  fireworks;  February  21,  1715,  15s.  for  the  rope  dancers;  August 
18,  6s.  for  a  place  on  the  occasion  of  the  coming  of  the  Portuguese  am- 
bassador. He  had  his  purse  filled  at  New  Year's.  His  mother  gave 
him  21.  10s.  in  1715,  and  31.  in  1716,  and  his  Mother  Carline  in  the 
convent  at  Dinant,  51.  in  1715. 

"  In  October,  1716,  without  discontinuing  the  lessons  with  his  tutor, 
Filley  entered  the  sixth  form  at  the  College  Louis-le-Grand.  Instruc- 
tion being  gratuitous,  his  expenses  included  only  the  fee  of  the  servant 
that  swept  out  the  class  room  (3s.  per  month,  besides  New  Year's 
presents)  ;  the  candle  for  lighting  (15s.  in  winter)  ;  presents  given  to 
regent  of  the  college  (21.  in  1715  and  1716  for  a  bouquet  of  artificial 
flowers)  ;  and  the  purchase  of  text-books.  The  following  are  the  pur- 
chases with  the  dates  of  the  same  : 

"SIXTH  FORM  (1716-1717),  October  1:  Latin-French  dictionary, 
21.  15s. ;  Rudiment,  12s.  ;  Particles,  8s. ;  Despautere  (one  of  the 
books  of  his  treatise  on  grammar,  written  in  Latin,  and  consisting  of 
Rudiments,  Grammatica,  Syntaxis,  Prosodia,  Be  figuris  et  tropis), 
12s.  November  20:  Catechism,  4s.  April  1  :  Phaedrus,  11. 
10s.  ;  Rudiment,  12s.  Greek  grammar,  10s. ;  Leaves  of  Cicero 
(specially  arranged  so  that  the  pupils  could  write  interlinear  or 
marginal  notes),  3s.  August  25 :  Rudiment  and  Particles, 
11.  2s. 

"  FIFTH  FORM  (1717-1718),  October :  Cicero  and  Ovid,  11.  lis.  ; 
Eutropius,  14s.;  Syntax,  14s.;  Greek,  12s.;  Particles,  10s.; 
Catechism,  4s.     January  :  A  French  author,  11.  5s. 

« FOURTH  FORM  (1718-1719),  October  1:  Despautere,  15s.; 
C16nart  (or  Kleinarts,  Flemish  philologist,  author  of  Institutiones 
ac  meditationes  in  Graecam  linguam),  12s. ;  Delices,  14s.  ;  Author, 
14s. ;  Catechism,  4s.  January :  Catechism,  4s.  April  15  :  Nepos 
14s.  ;  Greek  roots,  11.  5s. 

"THIRD  FORM  (1719-1720),  October  1 :  Quintus  Curtius,  11.  ; 
Virgil,  complete,  1/.  ;  Latin  dictionary,  41.  10s.  ;  Synonyms  of 
the  new  edition,  41. ;  Greek  fables,  10s.  April  1 :  Cicero,  7s.  ; 
Saint  John  Chrysostom,  12s. ;  Accents,  11.  10s. 

"  SECOND  FORM  (1720-1721),  October  1 :  Cicero,  4s. ;  Virgil,  li. 
10s.  ;  Sallust,  21.  10s.  ;  Horace,  31.  ;  Batrachomyomachia  (the  battle 
of  the  rats  and  the  frogs,  commonly  attributed  to  Homer),  5s.  June  : 
Horace,  11.  15s. ;  Cicero,  8s. ;  Velleius  Paterculus,  12s. 


398  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

"  RHETORIC  FORM  (1721-1722),  October  10:  Cicero,  9s.  ;  Juvenal, 
21.  10s. ;  Livy,  21.  10s.  ;  Analysis  of  Cicero's  Orations,  3Z.  10s. 

"  The  list  is  incomplete  for  the  last  class,  for  Filley  left  Paris  in  March, 
1722,  before  he  had  to  buy  the  second  lot  of  books  for  the  year." 

The  various  sums  charged  up  to  the  purchase  of  catechisms  do 
not  seem  to  have  resulted  in  any  very  beneficial  effect  on  the  life 
and  character  of  this  youth,  for  on  at  least  two  subsequent 
occasions  further  sums  of  money  were  expended  for  masses 
destined  to  bring  about  a  reform  in  his  actions,  and  in  November 
and  December,  1720,  somebody  seems  to  have  taken  a  more 
practical  means  of  assuring  proper  behavior  on  the  young  man's 
part  by  paying  the  aforementioned  sweeper  of  the  class  room  21. 
5s.  per  month  to  conduct  him  from  the  college  to  his  guardian's 
house  and  back  again. 


APPENDIX   G 

CURRICULUM  OF  THE  UNIVERSITY  COLLEGES,  176  — 
ACCORDING  TO  ROLLAND1 

SIXTH  FORM.  The  Maxims  of  Tobias,  and  the  moral  books  of  the 
Old  Testament ;  the  gospels  for  Sundays  and  holidays  j  the  cate- 
chism of  the  diocese;  Old  Testament  history  ;  an  abridged  French 
grammar  ;  principles  of  the  Latin  language  ;  Furgault's  Greek 
grammar  ;  selected  stories  from  the  Old  Testament ;  sacred  col- 
loquies ;  Cicero's  letters ;  the  fables  of  iEsop,  Phaedrus,  and  La 
Fontaine  ;  Aurelius  Victor. 

FIFTH  FORM.  The  Maxims  of  Tobias,  and  the  moral  books  ot 
the  Old  Testament ;  the  gospels  for  Sundays  and  holidays ;  the 
catechism  of  the  diocese  ;  an  abridged  French  grammar ;  principles 
of  the  Latin  language ;  Furgault's  Greek  grammar ;  Nepos ; 
-  Justin ;  selections  from  profane  history  ;  selected  precepts  of 
Cicero;  the  fables  of  iEsop,  Phaedrus,  and  La  Fontaine;  simple 
letters  chosen  from  different  authors ;  a  knowledge  of  mythology, 
the  questions  and  answers  being  given  in  French. 

FOURTH  FORM.  Maxims  from  the  Scriptures ;  the  epistles  and 
gospels ;  the  catechism  of  Paris ;  principles  of  the  Latin  language, 
second  part ;  Furgault's  Greek  grammar ;  an  abridged  French 
grammar ;  iEsop's  fables ;  the  gospel  according  to  Luke  (in 
Greek);  Cicero's  De  senectute  and  De  amicitia,  his  letter  to 
Quintus,  the  paradoxes,  and  moral  precepts  chosen  from  him  ; 
Caesar ;  Ovid ;  Virgil's  Bucolics  and  Georgics;  an  abridged 
Roman  history. 

THIRD  FORM.  Sentences  and  verses  from  the  Scriptures,  the  epistles 
and  the  gospels. 

Before  Easter :  Cicero :  De  officiis,  De  natura  deorum,  and  the  Tuscu- 
lansj  Letters  to  Atticus;  rules  of  Latin  prosody  ;  Quintus  Curtius; 
Paterculus  ;  some  books  of  the  Metamorphoses. 
After  Easter :  Some  of  Cicero's  orations,  such,  for  example,  as  the 

1  Gr£ard,  Education  et  instruction,  Enseignement  secondaire,  II.,  pp.  288- 
289. 


400        FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Catilines,  or  the  Manilian  law;  Sallust  (distributed  over  two 
years).  The  Georgics  and  the  first  two  books  of  the  JEneid  in 
alternate  years. 

Greek  :  Some  of  Lucian's  dialogues  ;  selected  passages  from 
Herodotus  ;  the  orations  of  Isocrates ;  Plutarch  ;  Greek  roots. 
French  :  Morning  —  Restaut's  grammar,  together  with  selections 
from  the  best  authors ;  at  the  end  of  the  year,  Vertot's  Roman 
revolution.  Afternoon  —  An  abridged  history  of  Greece  with  geo- 
graphical and  chronological  commentaries  upon  that  history. 

SECOND  FORM.  Sentences  and  verses  from  the  Scriptures,  the 
epistles  and  the  gospels. 

Before  Easter  :  Cicero :  De  oratore,  or  oratorical  selections. 
After  Easter :  Some  of  Cicero's  orations  (other  than  those  read  in  the 
third  form) ;  selected  passages  from  the  Cyropcedia,  or  some  of  Plu- 
tarch's Lives;  the  JEneid,  the  first  six  books  alternating  yearly 
with  the  last  six. 

Throughout  the  year:  Horace,  Odes  or  Satires  ;  alternately  the  satires 
of  Boileau  or  the  finest  odes  of  Rousseau ;  the  finest  passages  from 
the  Iliad  or  the  Odyssey;  Restaut's  French  grammar.  Several 
other  books  in  addition,  some  of  which  shall  be  chosen  for  reading 
aloud. 

Morning  —  Bossuet,  Universal  history  ;  Vertot,  Revolution  in  Por- 
tugal ;  Abbe*  Saint-Real ,  The  Venetian  confederation ;  Pellisson, 
History  of  the  French  Academy  ;  Fontenelles,  Eloges  acadtfmiques  ; 
Montesquieu,  Grandeur  des  Romains  ;  etc.  Evening  —  An  abridged 
history  of  France. 

RHETORIC  FORM.  Ancients  :  Demosthenes,  Isocrates,  Sallust, 
Livy,  Tacitus,  Horace  (especially  the  Ars  poetica),  Virgil,  Perseus, 
Juvenal. 

Moderns  :  St.  Cyprian,  St.  Jerome,  Salvian,  Lactantia,  St.  Basil,  St. 
Gregory,  St.  Chrysostom,  Bossuet,  Fleshier,  Mascaron,  Fenelon, 
d'Aguesseau,  Bourdaloue,  Massillon,  Boileau  (especially  his  Art 
poetique),  the  sacred  tragedies  and  les  Cantiques  sacr4s  of  Racine,  le 
Poeme  de  la  religion  of  Racine  the  younger,  the  Odes  and  the 
Psalms  of  Rousseau. 


APPENDIX  H 

COMPARATIVE  DAILY  PROGRAMS  IN  1769  AND  1874 1 

The  day  of  a  pupil  at  the  College  of  Clermont  (now  the  lycee 
Louis-le-Grand)  in  1769,  and  the  day  of  a  pupil  at  the  lycee  Louis- 
le-Grand  in  1874. 


College  op  Clermont 


Lycee  Louis-le-Grand 


5.30 

Rise 

5.30 

Rise 

6.00-7.45 

Study  —  learning  the 
Scriptures 

6.00-7.30 

Study 

8.15-10.30 

Class  work 

8.00-10.00 

Class  work 

10.30-12.00 

Mass  and  study 

10.00-12.00  Study.     Religious 

lecture.     Various 

exercises 

12.00-1.30 

Recreation 

1.00-2.00 

Study 

1.30-2.30 

Study 

2.15-4.00 

Class  work 

2.30-4.30 

Class  work 

4.30-5.00 

Recreation 

5.00-6.00 

Study 

5.00-8.00 

Study 

6.00-7.00 

Lecture  for  the  phi- 
losophy students 

7.00-8.00 

Study 

8.00-9.00 

Supper  and  recreation 

9.00 

Bed 

9.30 

Bed 

Note.  In  the  program  of  1769,  breakfast  must  have  come  between 
7.45  and  8.15,  and  dinner  from  12.00  to  12.30,  with  probably  a  short 
recreation  period  until  one  o'clock. 

In  the  program  of  1874,  breakfast  came  at  7.30,  and  dinner  during 
the  first  part  of  the  so-called  recreation  period  from  12.00  to  1.30. 
Supper  was  undoubtedly  at  eight  o'clock. 

1  Lantoine,  Histoire  de  V  enseignement  secondaire  en  France  au  XVIIe 
viecle,  p.  288. 


APPENDIX  I 

OCCUPATIONS   OF   PARENTS   OF  SCHOLARSHIP 
HOLDERS   APPOINTED   IN    1906-1907 x 

(Boys  and  Girls) 


Occupations 


Boys 


No.  of 
schol- 
arships 


Per 
cent 


Girls 


Per 

cent 


Professors  of  higher  and  secondary  education 

Officers  and  teachers  of  primary  system    .    . 

Army  and  navy  officers,  in  active  service  or 
retired 

Non-commissioned  officers,  army  and  navy, 
gendarmes  and  forest  guards 

State,  departmental,  and  communal  officers 

Business  employes 

Railway  employes 

Liberal  professions:  doctors,  pharmacists, 
barristers,  architects,  men  of  letters,  art- 
ists, etc 

Merchants 

Agriculturists,  farmers,  and  small  proprie- 
tors   

Artisans  and  laborers 

Clergymen 

Notaries,  bailiffs,  and  court  officers    .... 

Miscellaneous 


Total   functionaries  paid   from  the   public 
treasury 


34 
211 

91 

90 

269 

78 

33 


60 

82 

77 

104 

13 

16 


1,158 


695 


2.93 
18.20 

7.84 

7.75 

23.22 

6.73 

2.93 


5.18 

7.08 

6.73 
8.97 
1.12 
1.37 


7 
35 
22 

5 


60.0 


204 


121 


9.3 
27.4 

1.9 

3.3 

17.1 

9.3 

2.4 


4.4 
5.3 

4.9 
8.3 
1.4 
1.4 
1.4 


59.0 


Budget  general  de  Vexercice,  1908,  p.  77. 


APPENDIX  J 

MENU.     LYCEE  LAKANAL,   SCEAUX1 


Sunday 
Breakfast 
Luncheon 

Dinner 

Monday 

Breakfast 
Luncheon 
Dinner 
Tuesday 
Breakfast 
Luncheon 

Dinner 

Wednesday 
Breakfast 
Luncheon 

Dinner 

Thursday 
Breakfast 
Luncheon 

Dinner 


January  26  to  February  1,  1908 

Coffee;  butter. 

Calf's  head,  with  oil;    breaded  veal  cutlets;    sausage, 

with  mashed  potatoes ;  apples. 
Vegetable   soup;    mutton   cutlet;    mixed   vegetables; 

salad  with  eggs;  Gruyere  cheese. 

Coffee;  butter. 

York  ham ;  fricassee  of  veal ;  fried  potatoes ;  pineapples. 

Crecysoup;  roast  sirloin  of  beef ;  rice  with  gravy ;  jam. 

Chocolate. 

Fillets  of  herring;    roast  pork;    macaroni  with  grated 

cheese;  cream  cheese. 
Peasant  soup;    mutton   stew,   with  early  vegetables; 

fried  oyster  plant;   assorted  nuts,  figs,  and  raisins. 

Coffee;  butter. 

Beef  salad;    roast  veal;   tomato  sauce;   potatoes  with 

butter  and  parsley;    cheese. 
Potato  soup;   leg  of  mutton;   Brittany  beans;   stewed 

prunes. 

Coffee;  butter. 

Maine  patties;    rabbit  stew,  with  white  wine;    string 

beans;  apple  marmalade. 
Parisian  soup ;  roast  beef ,  bordelaise ;  gratindauphinois; 

small  cakes. 


1  From  the  menu  posted  in  the  entrance  hall  of  the  lycee.  The  official 
regulations  require  that  the  menu  of  the  current  week  be  signed  by  the  head 
master,  the  school  physician,  and  the  bursar,  and  be  posted  in  some  conspicu- 
ous place.  In  this  way,  visiting  parents  may  readily  satisfy  themselves  as  to 
the  variety,  at  least,  of  the  food  that  is  set  before  their  children. 


404  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Friday 

Breakfast       Chocolate. 

Luncheon       Potato  salad;    hard  boiled  eggs  and  cabbage;    lentils 
with  white  wine ;  jam. 

Dinner  Pea  soup;    potato  omelet;    rice  pudding,  with  fruit; 

Camembert  cheese. 
Saturday 

Breakfast       Coffee;  butter. 

Luncheon       Pressed  meat;  beefsteak  with  water  cress;  baked  cauli- 
flower with  cheese;  cream  cheese. 

Dinner  Onion  soup;  roast  veal;  coffee  custard;  small  cakes. 

This  is  the  menu  for  the  sixth  form  boys  and  upward,  but  the 
younger  children  live  a  little  more  simply.  Each  boy  has  a 
quarter  bottle  of  wine  at  luncheon  and  at  dinner,  and  bread  in 
abundance  at  every  meal.  Lakanal  is  said  to  be  the  pleasantest 
of  all  the  French  lycees  at  which  to  live,  and  so  far  as  my  own 
experience  is  concerned  this  reputation  is  justly  deserved.  The 
fees  are  relatively  high  there,  and  this  naturally  allows  a  wider 
and  more  varied  menu  than  is  possible  at  the  less  expensive 
schools  in  the  country. 

As  evidence  of  the  strict  economy  of  the  French  kitchen,  it  may 
be  observed  that  every  particle  of  meat  that  goes  into  the  dining 
room  is  carefully  weighed  by  the  chief  cook,  and  every  scrap  has 
to  be  accounted  for.  In  some  lycees  each  individual  portion  is 
weighed,  while  in  others  the  eight  or  ten  portions  required  at  a 
table  are  cut  together  and  the  boys  left  to  divide  them  at  the 
table.  In  the  best  schools  the  boys  receive  from  one  seventh  to 
one  fifth  of  a  pound  of  meat  each,  according  to  their  age,  at  a 
meal,  but  in  the  smaller  schools  this  quantity  is  somewhat  less. 
There  is  ordinarily  an  abundant  supply  of  bread  and  vegetables. 
So,  too,  in  the  largest  schools,  the  wine  allowance  for  the  oldest 
pupils  is  all  pure  wine,  while  for  the  younger  it  is  diluted.  In 
either  case  the  boys,  according  to  the  universal  French  custom, 
mix  it  with  water  to  suit  their  taste.  As  the  price  of  board  de- 
creases, we  are  likely  to  find  the  purity  of  the  wine  decreasing  at 
least  as  rapidly  proportionally. 


APPENDIX  K 

PROGRAM   OF   THE  EXAMINATION   (LETTERS)   FOR 

THE  CERTIFICATE  FOR  TEACHING  IN 

GIRLS'   SECONDARY   SCHOOLS1 

Ethics 

In  ethics  the  subject  will  be  chosen  from  the  programs  of  the 
girls'  secondary  schools.  The  following  summary  will  serve  as  a 
guide  to  the  candidates  for  the  preparation  of  the  questions  of 
education  and  instruction  :  2 

1.  Aims  of  education  and  means  of  attaining  the  same :  habits,  prin- 
ciples. The  education  of  women.  The  education  of  girls  in  our  estab- 
lishments of  secondary  instruction  in  France. 

2.  Physical  education;  exercises  and  games.  Physical  education 
of  girls  at  the  lycee. 

3.  Moral  education.  Education  of  the  will  and  the  feelings.  The 
different  aspects  and  methods  of  character  formation.  Education  of 
the  moral  conscience. 

4.  Intellectual  education  according  to  age.  Formation  of  the  judg- 
ment and  the  taste. 

5.  Domestic  education. 

6.  Instruction.  Relative  values  of  literature,  history,  poetry  of 
the  arts,  the  sciences,  in  secondary  education  of  girls. 

7.  Methods  of  instruction :  the  class,  the  course,  the  art  of  question- 
ing, the  reading  of  texts,  the  choice  and  correction  of  home  work. 

8.  Discipline. 

9.  What  should  be  the  spirit  of  the  school?    How  attained? 

1  Bull.  adm.t  1907,  II.,  pp.  341-343. 

2  Candidates  may  furthermore  consult  with  profit  among  other  books  the 
following  : 

Fenelon  —  TraiU  dc  V Education  dcs  filles  ;  Rousseau.  —  L'^mile  ;  Spen- 
cer. —  L' Education  intellectuelle,  morale  et  physique ;  Mme.  Necker  de 
Saussure.  —  V Education  progressive  ou  iZtude  du  cours  de  la  vie  ;  Greard. 
—  L Education  dcs  femmes  par  les  femmes.  Instructions,  programmes  et 
reglements  de  Venseignement  secondaire  dans  les  lycies  de  garcons. 


406  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

French  Literature 

1.  Extracts  from  Mathurin  Regnier. 

2.  Corneille.  —  Don  Sanche  d'Aragon,  act  I. ;  act  II.,  sc.  i. ;  act  V. 

3.  Moliere.  —  Les  Fdcheux. 

4.  Racine.  —  Britannicus. 

5.  Boileau.  —  Satire  III.  (Le  repas  ridicule).  Art  poetique,  chants  I. 
et  III. 

6.  Mme.  de  Sevigne\  —  Lettres  choisies;  n°  20  a  30;  n°  43;  n°  55  a 
63;  n°  67,  68,  84,  94. 

7.  Buffon.  —  Discours  sur  le  style. 

8.  Voltaire.  —  Choix  de  lettres;  n°  18  a  21;  n°  100  a  125;  n°  134, 
137;  n°  143  a  147. 

9.  Mme.  de  Stael.  —  Pages  choisies.  Extracts  from  Considerations 
sur  les  principaux  evenements  de  la  Revolution  francaise,  pp.  291-335. 

10.  Choix  des  moralistes  francaises,  Bougie  et  Beaunier,  ed.  —  Ex- 
tracts from  Malebranche,  Nicole,  Rollin,  Renan,  Bersot. 

11.  Poesies  domestiques:  la  Famille,  pp.  60-129,  dans  les  Extraits 
des  poetes  lyriques  du  XIXe  siecle. 

History 

1.  Roman  institutions  and  customs  during  the  last  two  centuries  of 
the  republic. 

2.  French  royalty,  civilization,  and  arts  of  the  thirteenth  century. 

3.  Russia,  from  the  death  of  Catherine  II.  to  the  death  of  Alexander  II. 

4.  The  Second  Republic. 

Geography 

1.  General.  The  progress  of  ocean  exploration.  Great  oceano- 
graphic  expeditions  of  the  present.  Purely  geographical  results  of 
these  explorations:  state  of  our  knowledge  of  ocean  depths,  currents, 
climates,  fish  and  fisheries,  and  of  the  polar  seas. 

2.  France.     Savoy,  Dauphiny,  and  Provence. 

3.  Europe.     Spain  and  Portugal. 

4.  Outside  Europe.    Japan  and  its  dependencies. 

English  Authors 

Shakespeare.  —  Macbeth. 

Tennyson.  —  Idylls  of  the  King  (abridged  edition  by  A.  Baret). 

William  Morris.  —  News  from  Nowhere. 

Milton.  —  L' Allegro.  —  II  Penseroso. 

German  Authors 

Goethe.  —  Schweizerreise. 

Schiller.  —  Die  Kraniche  des  Ibykus,  dor  Taucher,  der  Gang  nach  dem 
Eisenhammer,  Wiirde  der  Frauen. 


J      APPENDIX  K  407 

Korner.  —  Zriny. 

Von  Wildenbruch.  —  Neid. 

Italian  Authors 

Machiavel.  —  Storie  Fiorentinie,  books  I.  and  II. 
Tasso.  —  Jerusalem  dMivree,  cantos  VII.  and  VIII. 
Alfieri.  —  Saul. 
Massimo  d'Azeglio.  —  Niccolo  dei  Lapi. 

Spanish  Authors 

Quintana.  —  Vidas  de  Espanoles  cMebres.     El  Cid. 

Cervantes.  —  Don  Quijote,  part  I.,  chapters  VII.,  VIII.,  and  IX. 

Moratin.  —  El  si  de  las  ninas. 

J.  Zorilla.  —  A  buen  juez  mejor  testigo. 


APPENDIX  L 

DIPL6ME  dittoes  superieures  de  philosophie 


University  de  Paris 
Faculte*  des  Lettres 


Session  de  juin 
1908 


Noms1 

Sujets  de  Memoires 

Note 
0a20 

Explication  Critique  de 
Textes 

Note 
0a20 

1 

Interpretation  et  modifica- 

Lucrece, De  natura  re- 

tion  du  Kantisme,  par 

1 

14 

rum  livreV.  A1 

7 

32 

K.  D.  Reinhold 

2 

11 

2 

L'expe"rience  par   illumi- 

Berkeley, Dialogues  en- 

nation  inteYieure  chez 

1 

16 

tre  Hylas  et  Philonous. 
Trad.       Beaulavon- 

Roger  Bacon 

2 

15 

Parodi.    B 

14 

45 

3 

La  philosophie  morale  de 
Th.  Green 

1 

16 

Alexandre,  de  anima,  p. 

2 

14 

60,  livre  I  de  l'^dition 

de   Brans    jusqu'a   p. 
100,  lignel7.    C 

13 

43 

4 

Les    gestes      stereotypes 

1 

10 

Platon,      Sophiste,     du 

dans  la  demence  prtfcoce 

2 

10 

chapitre  24  a  la  fin. 
C 
Kant,  De  mundi  sensi- 

10 

30 

5 

I/influence  de  Jules  Le- 

quyer  sur  la  philosophie 
de  Ch.  Renouvier 

1 

14 

bilis  atque  intellegibi- 

2 

16 

lis  forma  atque  princi- 

piis.     D 

15 

45 

6 

Ficin  traducteur  et  com- 

1 

12 

Rousseau,  Contrat  social, 

mentateur  de  Plotin 

2 

13 

livre  let  II.    E 

8 

33 

7 

Pathologie    de    la    croy- 

1 

15 

Plotin,  vi,  9.     De  l'un- 

ance 

2 

14 

ion  du  bien.  F 

14 

43 

8 

La  nature  et  la  variation 

Epictete,    Dissertations, 
livre  II  du  chapitre  I 
au  chapitre   XII    in- 

de  l'etat  de  la  matiere 

vivante  appele"e  "  indi- 
vidu "     (d'apres     les 

1 

13 

clus.      D 

12 

39 

,  ve"ge*taux     infe"rieurs) 
Etude  sur  l'introduction 

2 

14 

9 

Lucrece,  De  natura  re- 

en  France  de  la  philoso- 

rum, livre  III. 

phie  de  Kant,  depuis  les 

1 

15 

F    G 

7 

36 

origines  jusqu'en  1820 
Psychologie    de    la    folie 

2 

14 

10 

Aristote,  Physique,  livre 

communique*e     (Con- 

VIII du  chapitre  4  a 

tribution  a  l'etude  de 

1 

17 

la  fin.   C 

13 

46 

la  contagion  mentale) 

2 

16 

11 

L'union  de  l'ame  et  du 

Platon,  Republique,  livre 
V,  depuis  475  B  jusqu'- 

corps  dans  la  philoso- 

1 

14 

phie  de  Spinoza 

2 

15 

a  la   fin   et    livre  VI 
entier.     D 

11 

40 

1  The  names  of  the  candidates  have  been  replaced  by  numbers,  and  of  the 
examining  professors  by  letters. 


APPENDIX  L 


409 


Noma 

Sujets  de  Memoires 

Note 
0a20 

Explication  Critique  de 
Textes 

Note 
0a20 

•03 

12 

Le  Dieu  de  Spinoza  et  sea 

1 

17 

Platon,  Phddon,  du  cha- 

origines  chez  Descartes 

2 

17 

pitre    XV    inclus    au 
chapitre    LXVII    ex- 
clus.     C 

17 

51 

13 

Contribution  a  l'dtude  de 

1 

16 

Aristote,  Ethique  a  Nico- 

la  religion  de  Descartes 

2 

15 

maque,  livre  I.    H  # 

15 

46 

14 

L'esthetique     de     l'abbe" 

,  Dubos 

Etude   critique   de   quel- 

1 

2 

6 

Spinoza,  Ethique,   livre 

15 

Comte,  Cours  de  philos- 

quea theories    contem- 

ophic  positive,  48  et  49 

poraines    relatives    au 

1 

11 

lecons.    B 

8 

30 

moi 

2 

11 

16 

L'expression      chez      les 
mllancoliques 

1 

10 

Spinoza,  Ethique,  livre 

2 

10 

I.      H 

6 

26 

17 

La  psychologie  des  Pas- 
sions en  France  depuis 
la   Renaissance  jusqu'- 
en    1650.       (Introduc- 
tion au  traits  Des  Pas- 
sions de  Descartes) 

1 

2 

15 
15 

Platon,  Menon.    C 

13 

43 

18 

Du  principe  de  causalite* 
et   de   la   liberte"    chez 

Aristote,  Politique,  livre 

1 

10 

III.     E 

13 

30 

Spinoza 

2 

7 

19 

Macrobe    et    Ne"oplaton- 

1 

13 

Schopenhauer,    Critique 

isme 

2 

13 

de  la  philoaophie  kanti- 
enne  dana  "Le  Monde" 
comme  volonte"  et  re- 
presentation.   B 

14 

40 

20 

Effeta  dynamiques  de  la 

1 

14 

Cic6*ron,   De   natura  re- 

sensation 

2 

13 

rum,    livre    I.      F 

7 

34 

21 

La  psychologie  de   J.-L. 

1 

11 

Kant,  Critique  de  la  rai- 

Vives    (1492-1540) 

2 

10 

son  pure,  Prefaces  de 
la  1  et  de  la  2  Edition. 
Introd.    A 

11 

32 

22 

Analyse  critique  de  la  m6- 
thode  dans  la  Physique 
de  Deacartea 

1 

6 

Renouvier,  Science  de  la 
morale,  1. 1,  livre  I 

23 

La  philosophic  sociale  de 

1 

14 

Malebranche,  Recherche 

Spinoza 

2 

10 

de  la  ve*rite\  livre  IV. 
G 

10 

34 

24 

La  thdodicee  de  Fenelon 

1 

17 

Aristote,    Physique,     I. 

2 

16 

C 

16 

49 

25 

Nos  connaisaances  aur  la 

Descartes,    Meditations, 

matiere      d'aprea      les 

II,    III,    IV.     B 

14 

44 

faits     recemment  ^  d<5- 

couverts    et    les    iddea 

1 

15 

nouvellement  mises  en 

ceuvre  (1895-1907) 

2 

15 

This  will  give  a  fairly  comprehensive  idea  of  the  character  of 
the  questions  and  the  general  conduct  of  the  examination  for  the 
higher  diploma,  the  intermediate  stage  between  the  master's 
degree  and  the  agregation. 

Each  part  of  the  examination  is  marked  upon  a  scale  of  twenty. 
The  first  gives  the  valuation  of  the  written  essay,  the  second  the 


410  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

grade  obtained  at  the  oral  quiz  upon  that  essay,  the  third  the 
mark  received  upon  the  interpretation  of  the  special  text,  assigned 
to  the  candidate  three  months  before  the  examination,  and  the 
fourth  the  sum  total  of  the  other  three.  A  mark  of  at  least 
thirty  is  necessary  in  order  to  pass. 


APPENDIX  M 

BIBLIOGRAPHY 

The  character  of  this  account  of  the  French  Secondary  Schools 
and  the  circumstances  under  which  it  was  written  necessitated  the 
almost  exclusive  use  of  French  authorities.  An  effort  has  been 
made  to  cite  the  more  important  of  the  later  articles  in  the  Report 
of  the  United  States  Commissioner  of  Education  for  the  benefit  ot 
the  reader  to  whom  this  foreign  material  will  not  be  available. 
For  further  literature  relating  to  education  in  France,  see 

Columbia  University  Library  Bulletin  No.  2.  Books  on  Education  in 
the  Libraries  of  Columbia  University.     N.  Y.,  1901 ; 

Cubberley,  Elwood  P.,  Syllabus  of  Lectures  on  the  History  of  Educa- 
tion.    2d  ed.     N.  Y.,  1904;  and 

Farrington,  Frederic  Ernest,  The  Public  Primary  School  System 
of  France.     N.  Y.,  1906. 

The  unusual  and  rather  arbitrary  classification  of  the  subjoined 
bibliography  has  been  adopted  with  the  view  of  rendering  it  more 
readily  available  for  the  reader.  Under  I.  and  II.  will  be  found 
the  historical  material  of  both  classes;  under  III.,  the  general 
secondary  material  (other  than  historical)  that  deals  with  phases 
of  the  subject  not  readily  falling  under  the  succeeding  rubrics. 
The  significance  of  the  other  captions  will  be  self-evident. 

The  bibliography  makes  no  claim  to  completeness,  especially  on 
the  method  side  under  Subjects  of  Instruction.  On  this  phase  of 
the  study,  however,  the  author  has  consistently  depended  upon 
personal  observation  rather  than  upon  the  works  of  other  writers 
in  these  fields. 

The  following  additional  abbreviations  are  used  in  this  bib- 
liography : 

Rev.  int.  for  Revue  international  de  l'enseignement. 
Rev.  univ.  for  Revue  universitaire. 

The  other  abbreviations  will  need  no  interpretation. 


* 


412  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


I.    SOURCES 

Annuaire  de  V instruction  publique  et  des  beaux-arts.  Delalain  Fibres, 
publishers.     Paris. 

Published  yearly  since  1851. 

Baluze,  IiItienne.    Capitularia  regum  Francorum.    1780.    2  v. 

Buisson,  Ferdinand.  Repertoire  des  ouvrages  pedagogiques  du  XVIe 
siecle.     Paris,  1886.     xvi+  733  pp. 

Chaptal,  J.  A.  Rapport  et  projet  de  loi  sur  Vinstruction  publique.  Paris, 
An  IX.     (1800.)     134  pp. 

Chevalier,  Michel.  De  Vinstruction  secondaire,  a  Voccasion  du  rap- 
port au  roi  de  M.  Villemain.     Paris,  1843.     35  pp. 

Condorcet.  Rapport  et  projet  de  dScret  sur  Vinstruction  publique,  prS- 
sentes  a  VAssemblee  nationale  au  nom  du  Comite  d'instruction  pub- 
lique.    Reprinted  in  Hippeau,  q.  v. 

Denifle,  Henricus,  et  iEMiLius  Chatelain.  Chartularium  univer- 
sitatis  Parisiensis.    Parisiis,  1889-1897.    4  v. 

This  monumental  work,  all  source  material,  covers  the  period  1200-1452,  the 
untimely  death  of  the  moving  spirit  having  stopped  the  publication  at  that 
point. 

Denifle,  Heinrich.  Die  Entstehung  der  Universitdten  des  Mittelalters 
bis  1400.     Berlin,  1885.     xlv+  815  pp. 

,   Documents : 

\    ;  L' administration  de  Vinstruction  publique,  de  1863  d  1869,  sous 


\J 


le  ministere  de  S.  Exc.  M.  Duruy.    Paris,  1869.    xxiv+  932  pp. 

Bulletin    administratis  du   ministere    de    Vinstruction   publique. 

Paris,  1850- 

Published  monthly  until  1881,  and  weekly  since  that  time.  The  official  pub- 
lication of  the  Minister. 

Bulletin  universitaire  contenant  les  ordonnances,  reglements,  et 
arretes  concernant  Vinstruction  publique.    Paris,  1829-1838.     7  v. 

Circulaires  et  instructions  ojjicielles  relatives  a  Vinstruction  pub- 
lique.    Paris,  1802-1900.     12  v. 

Circulaires  et  instructions  officielles  relatives  &  Vinstruction  pub- 
lique publiees  sous  le  ministere  de  S.  Exc.  M.  Duruy  (1863-1869). 
Paris,     xxiv  +  716  pp. 

Journal  general  de  Vinstruction  publique,  1831  a  1870;  1879  d 
1882. 

Lois  et  actes  de  Vinstruction  publique,  1848-1855.    Paris.    8  v. 

Recueil  de  lois  et  reglements  concernant  Vinstruction  publique  de- 

puis  Vedit  de  Henri  IV.,  en  1598,  jusqu'd  ce  jour.    Paris,  1804-1828. 

9  v. 

Ends  with  1827.  Very  incomplete  for  the  pre-Revolutionary  period.  For 
continuation,  see  Rendu,  infra. 


APPENDIX  M  413 

Recueil  de  reglements  relatifs  a  V enseignement  secondaire.  Pans, 
1900.     ix+888pp. 

Contains  all  the  regulations  in  force  in  1900.  v^ 

Rejorme  de  I' enseignement,  recueil  des  lois,  dbcrets,  arretts,  nr-VJF"  * 
culaires,  instructions,  et  notes  ministerielles,  concernant  les  modijv-       tr 
cations  apportees  a  Vinstruction  publique  pendant  le  ministere  de 
M.  H.  Fortoul  du  2  dtcembre  1851  au  ler  juillet,  1856.    Paris,  1854-4 
1856.     4  v.  <-J 

Rendu,  Ambroise,  Code  universitaire,  ou  lois,  statuts,  et  reglements 
de  Vuniversite  royale  de  France,  1793-1845,  mis  en  ordre  par.  Paris, 
1846.     xxiv+  1107+  xiv  pp. 

Continuation  of  Recueil  des  lois,  supra.    Unsatisfactory  as  a  source  on  ac- 
count of  the  form  and  arrangement  of  the  material. 

Ecoles  centrales,  in  volume  entitled  Instruction  publique.  Address  by 
Binet  at  opening  of  the  school  year  1798-1799,  and  two  addresses 
by  Arnault  at  the  prize  distributions  of  September,  1803,  and 
September,  1804.     32+32+  30  pp. 

Enquete  sur  V enseignement  secondaire.    Paris,  1899.    6  v. 
Known  as  the  Report  of  the  Ribot  Commission. 

Enseignement  moderne.  Enseignement  et  baccalauriat.  Reforme  de  1891. 
Paris,  1891.    (No  pagination;  between  350  and  400  pp.) 

Felibien,  Michel.    Histoire  de  la  ville  de  Paris.    Revue,  augmentee  et 
mise  au  jour  par  Guy-Alexis  Lobineau.    Paris,  1725.    5  v. 
Two  volumes  of  history  and  three  of  documents. 

Fleury,  Abbe  Claude.  Traite  du  choix  et  de  la  mithode  des  etudes. 
Paris,  1686.     xiv+  365  pp. 

Genie  de  la  Revolution  considtre"  dans  Veducation,  ou  memoires  pour 
servir  a  Vhistoire  de  Vinstruction  publique  depuis  1798  jusqu'a  nos 
jours.    Par  l'auteur  de  la  Regence  a  Blois.    Paris,  1817.     3  v. 

Gobron,  Louis.  Legislation  et  jurisprudence  de  V enseignement  public 
et  de  V enseignement  privS  en  France  et  en  Algerie.  Paris,  1900.  vi+ 
995  pp. 

Hippeau,  C.  Vinstruction  publique  en  France  pendant  la  Revolution. 
Discours  et  rapports  de  Mirabeau,  T alley rand-Pe'rigord,  Condorcet, 
Lanthenas,  Romme,  Le  Peletier,  Saint-Fargeau,  Cales,  Lakanal 
Daunou,  et  Fourcroy.    Paris,  1881.    xxiii+  520  pp. 

Instructions  concernant  les  programmes  de  I' enseignement  secondaire 
classique,  suivies  du  rapport  et  de  I 'arrets  relatifs  d  la  discipline  dans 
les  itablissements  d 'instruction  secondaire.    Paris,  1901.    ccxvi  pp. 

Joly,  Claude.  Traitte"  historique  des  icoles  ipiscopales  et  eccUsiastiques. 
Paris,  1678.     592  +  pp. 

Statuts  et  reglemens  des  petites  e* coles  de  grammaire  de  la  ville,  ciU, 
universiU,  faux-bourgs,  et  banlieu'e  de  Paris ;   Avec  quelques  arrests 


414  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

de  la  cour  de  parlement,  touchant  les  dites  ecoles;  Ensemble,  les 
quartiers  reglez  et  assignez  aux  maitres  et  maitresses  d'icoles.  Paris, 
1672.     436  +  pp. 

Jourdain,  Charles,    he  budget  de  V instruction  publique  et  des  etablisse- 

ments  scientifiques  et  litteraires  depuis  la  fondation  de  VuniversiU 

imperiale  jusqu'd  nos  jours.    Paris,  1857.    iv  +  340  pp. 

Histoire  de  V University  de  Paris  au  XVIIe  et  au  XVIIF  siecle. 

Paris,  1862-1866.    viii  +  516  +  ccxciii  pp. 

Continues  the  history  of  Ckevier,  q.  v.  From  the  reform  of  Henry  IV.  (1598- 
1600)  to  the  suppression  of  the  University,  1793. 

Journal  de  Vinstruction  publique,  r^dige"  par  Thiebaut  et  Borrelly.  Paris, 
1793-1795.     7  v. 

Jouvency,  Joseph.  De  ratione  discendi  et  docendi.  Traduction  fran- 
chise par  H.  Ferte" :  De  la  maniere  d'apprendre  et  oVenseigner.  Paris, 
1892. 

The  original  treatise,  in  Latin,  was  intended  to  complete  the  Ratio  studiorum. 
It  appeared  anterior  to  1719. 

La  Chalotais,   Louis   Rene  de   Caradeuc  de.     Essai  d' education 
nationale,  ou  plan  d'itudes  pour  la  jeunesse.    Geneve,  1763.    152  pp. 
Compte  rendu  des  Constitutions  des  Jesuites.    Paris,  1762.    288  pp. 

Lacroix,  S.  F.     Essais  sur  V enseignement  en  general,  et  sur  celui  des 

mathematiques  en  particulier.    Paris,  1816,  2e  £d.    vii+  358  pp. 

Much  good  material  on  the  icoles  centrales,  foundation,  courses,  and  causes  of 
their  failure. 

Discours  sur  Vinstruction  publique,  prononce"  a  la  distribution  des 
prix  des  ecoles  centrales  du  departement  de  la  Seine,  le  29  thermidor, 
an  VIII  (Aug.  17,  1800) ;  Suivi  de  notes  sur  Vetat  actuel  et  le  rigime 
des  icoles  centrales.    Paris,  An  IX.    (1800.)    42  pp. 

Lakanal,  J.  Convention  nationale:  projet  d' Education  du  peuple  fran- 
gais,  presente  d  la  Convention  nationale  au  nom  du  Comite  d'instruc- 
tion  publique,  le  26  juin  1793,  Van  II  de  la  republique.  Imprime 
par  ordre  de  la  Convention  nationale.    Paris,  1793. 

Mimoire  sur  I 'education  de  la  jeunesse  par  une  me'thode  d' enseignement 
tout  &  fait  oppose" e  &  la  routine  actuelle.  Adresse  a  VAssemblee  na- 
tionale.    (No  author.)     Paris,  1789.     29  pp. 

Memoires  et  documents  scolaires  du  Mus6e  p£dagogique. 

Note  sur  Vinstruction  publique  de  1789  a  1808,  suivie  du  catalogue 
des  documents  originaux  existant  au  Ministere  de  Vinstruction 
publique  et  relatifs  a  Vhistoire  de  Vinstruction  publique  en  France 
durant  cette  piriode.    No.  71.    Paris,  1888.    40  pp. 

Schola  aquitanica:  Programme  d'itudes  du  college  de  Guyenne  au 
XVIe  siecle,  reimprime  avec  une  preface,  une  traduction  francaise, 
et  des  notes,  par  L.  Massebieau.    No.  7.    77  pp. 


APPENDIX  M  415 

Migne.     Patrologia  latina.    Paris,  1863. 

Volumes  c  and  ci  contain  Froben's  edition  of  Alcuin. 

Mirabeau,  Hon.  Gabr.  Riquetti  Ct®  de.  Travail  sur  l'6ducation  pu- 
blique,  trouve  dans  les  papiers  de  Mirabeau  I'aine;  publie  par  P.-G.- 
J.-Cabanis.    Paris,  1791.    206  pp. 

Pasquier,  Estienne.  Les  recherches  de  la  France.  Paris,  1665.  910  + 
pp. 

Plan  d'itudes  et  programmes  a" enseignement  dans  les  lycies  et  colleges 
de  gargons.    Paris,  1907-1908.    xxvi  +  248  pp. 

See  Instructions  concernant  les  programmes  de  V  enseignement  secondaire  clas- 
sique  for  detailed  suggestions  as  to  the  application  of  these  programs. 

Programmes  et  reglements  des  itudes  de  la  SocteU  de  J6sus  {Ratio  atque 
institutio  studiorum  societatis  Jesu),  comprenant  les  modifications 
faites  en  1832  et  1858.    H.  Ferte\  trad.     Paris,  1892.     xlii  +  144  pp. 

Programs  of  admission  conditions  for  the  various  examinations : 

Baccalaureat.    (Session  de  1908.)    Collection  Delalain,  No.  1. 

Bourses  de  V enseignement  superieur.    Collection  Delalain,  No.  26. 

L'ecole  normale  superieure,  et  Bourses  de  licence.  Collection  De- 
lalain, No.  33. 

Licence  es  lettres,  et  doctorat  es  lettres.  Collection  Delalain,  No.  51 
bis. 

Licence  es  sciences,  et  doctorat  es  science.  Collection  Delalain, 
No.  13. 

Ordres  d'agregation.    Collection  Delalain,  No.  18. 

Ramus,  Pierre.  Avertissements  sur  la  reformation  de  VUniversiti  de 
Paris  au  Roy,  1562.    An  undated  reprint,  paged  117-163. 

Ratio  atque  institutio  studiorum  societatis  Jesu.  Superiorum  permissu. 
Tournoni,  1603.    198+  pp. 

For  translation,  see  Programmes  et  reglements  des  itudes  de  la  SociitS  de 
Jesus. 

Rever,  F.  Voyage  des  ileves  du  pensionnat  de  Vicole  centrale  de  VEure 
dans  la  partie  occidentale  du  d6partement  pendant  les  vacances  de 
Van  VIII  (Sept.  1800),  avec  des  observations,  des  notes,  et  plusieurs 
gravures  relatives  a  Vhistoire  naturelle,  V agriculture,  les  arts,  etc. 
^ivreux,  An  X.     viii+  179  pp. 

Rolland  d'Erceville.  Compte  rendu  aux  Chambres  assemblies  de  ce 
qui  a  6te  fait  par  MM.  les  commissaires  nommis  par  les  arrets  de  6 
aout  et  7  septembre  1762.    Paris,  1763-1764.    2  v. 

Recueil  de  plusieurs  des  ouvrages  de  Monsieur  le  president  Rolland, 
imprimi  en  execution  des  deliberations  du  bureau  d' administration 
du  College  Louis-le-Grand,  des  17  Janvier  et  18  avril  1782.  Paris, 
1783.    lx+  951  pp. 


416  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Stances  et  debats  des  ecoles  normales,  recueillies  par  des  stSnographes  et 

revues  par  les  professeurs.    Nouvelle  Edition.    Paris,  1800.     13  v. 

The  term  ecoles  normales  is  erroneous,  for  there  never  was  but  one  school 
established.  The  lectures  actually  delivered  at  the  school  appear  in  the  first 
six  volumes,  the  next  four  volumes  containing  the  lectures  prepared  in  connec- 
tion with  the  work  of  the  school,  but  never  delivered  there.  The  last  three 
volumes  are  composed  of  the  discussions. 

Statistics : 

Statistique  de  V enseignement  secondaire:  1840-1854,  1865,  1876, 

1887. 

These  four  reports  ere  all  that  have  appeared  despite  the  efforts  of  Napoleon 
(d&cret  17  mars  1808)  and  Louis  Philippe  (ordonnance  3  mars  1843  ordering 
such  a  report  to  be  prepared  every  five  years). 

Statistique  en  1865.    Paris,  1868.    clvi  +  481  pp. 
Statistique  en  1876.    Paris,  1878.    cxxxi+  470  pp. 
Statistique  en  1887.    lre  partie,  gargons;  2e  jeunes  filles.    Paris, 
1889.     2  v. 
See  also  Ribot,  Enquete,  vol.  III. 

Steeg  (Depute^.  Budget  g6n4ral  de  Vexercice  1908.  Rapport  fait  au 
nom  de  la  commission  chargee  d'examiner  le  projet  de  loi  portant 
fixation  du  budget.    Paris,  1907.    439  pp. 

Talleyrand-Perigord  (ancien  eVeque  d'Autun).  Rapport  sur  V in- 
struction publique,fait  au  nom  du  Comite  de  constitution  a  I'AssembUe 
nationale,  les  10,  11,  et  19  septembre  1791.    Paris,  1791.    196  pp. 

Villemain.  Expose  des  motifs  et  projet  de  loi  sur  V instruction  secondaire, 
'pv&Udfile  a  la  Chambre  des  Pairs,  le  2  fevrier,  1844.  Precede  du  rap- 
port au  Roi  sur  Vetat  de  cette  instruction  en  France,  3  mars,  1843. 
Paris,  1844.     203  pp. 

Wissemans,  A.  Code  de  V enseignement  secondaire.  Documents  concer- 
nant  le  personnel  des  lycees  et  colleges  de  gargons.  Paris,  1906.  xix  + 
288  pp. 

II.   HISTORICAL   WORKS:  SECONDARY 

d'Arvert,  France.  L'humanisme  et  la  reforme  au  XVe  et  XVIIe 
siecle.    Rev.  int.,  X.,  pp.  1-38. 

Babeau,  Albert.    L'ecole  de  village  pendant  la  revolution.    Paris,  1881. 
La  village  sous  V ancien  regime.    2e  £d.    Paris,  1879.    393  pp. 
La  ville  sous  V ancien  regime.    Paris,  1880.    viii  +  564  pp. 

y„  Batjdrillart,  H.     La  famille  et  I 'Education  en  France  dans  leur  rap- 
ports avec  Vetat  de  la  societe.    Paris,  1874.    xi+  430  pp. 

^\  Bayssieres,  Edmond.    L' 'enseignement  secondaire  frangais  de  M.  Bigot 

y  et  V enseignement  special.    L'ecole  de  Cluny.    Paris,  1886.    200  pp. 

J    Bersot,  Ernest.    Lettres  sur  I 'enseignement.    Paris,  1857.    28  pp. 

Contains  a  very  good  short  account  of  the  baccalaureate  from  1808  to  1857. 


APPENDIX  M  417 

Bloch,  G.    La  vie  intellectuelle  et  morale,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France, 

v.  I.,  liv.  III.,  ch.  II.,  pp.  391-398. 

A  good  short  account  of  the  early  schools  of  Gaul  from  the  Christian  era 
until  the  end  of  the  fourth  century. 

Boissier,  Gaston.  La  reforme  des  etudes  au  XVIe  siecle.  Revue  des 
Deux-Mondes,  Dec,  1882,  pp.  579-610. 

Bourchemin,  P.-Daniel.  Etude  sur  les  academies  protestantes  en 
France  au  XVIe  et  au  XVIIe  siecle.    Paris,  1882.    480  pp. 

Buisson,  Ferdinand.  Dictionnaire  de  pedagogie  et  d 'instruction  pri- 
maire.    2  pts.    4  v.    Paris,  1880-1889. 

Cadet,  Felix.    Uiducation  a  Port-Royal.    Paris,  1887.    316  pp. 

Carre,  I.    Les  pedagogues  de  Port-Royal.     Paris,  1887.    xxxvi+ 348  pp. 

Champion,  Ed.  L 'instruction  publique  en  France  d'apres  les  cahiers  de 
'89.     Rev.  int.,  1884,  II.,  pp.  1-19. 

Chauvin,  Victor.    Histoire  des  lyctes  et  colleges  de  Paris.    Paris,  1866.  ii^ 
304  pp. 

Christie,  Richard  Copley.  Etienne  Dolet,  the  martyr  of  the  Renais- 
sance.   A  biography.    Lond.,  1880.    xxiv  +  559  pp. 

Compayre,  Gabriel.  Abelard  and  the  origin  and  early  history  of  uni- 
versities.   Lond.,  1893.    xiii-f  315  pp. 

Histoire  critique  des  doctrines  de  V education  en  France  depuis  le 
seizieme  siecle.    Paris,  1880.    2me  6d.    2  v. 

Cormenin.  L'iducation  et  enseignement  en  matiere  d'instruction  secon- 
dare.   Paris,  1847.    125  pp. 

^~ 

Cournot,   A.  A.     Des  institutions  d'instruction  publique  en  France.   ^ 
Paris,  1864. 

Cousin,  Victor.  MSmoire  sur  Vinstruction  secondaire  dans  le  royaume 
de  Prusse.     Paris,  1837.     195  pp. 

Contains  an  account  of  the  rise  of  enseignement  spicial  in  France. 

Cousin,  Victor,  ed.  Ouvrages  inidits  d' Abelard,  pour  servir  a  Vhistoire 
de  la  philosophie  en  France.    Paris,  1836.    cciii  +  681  pp. 

Cramer,  Friedrich.  Geschichte  der  Erziehung  und  des  Unterrichts  in 
den  Niederlanden  wahrend  des  Mittelalters.  Stralsund,  1843.  lviii 
+  338  pp. 

Crevier.  Histoire  de  V  University  de  Paris,  depuis  son  origine  jusqu'en 
Vannbe  1600.     Paris,  1761.     7  v. 

This  is  hardly  more  than  a  reproduction  of  Duboullai.    Continued  from 
1600  to  1793  by  Joubdain,  q.  v. 

27 


418  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Davidson,  Thomas.  Rousseau  and  education  according  to  nature. 
Lond.,  1898.     vii+  253  pp. 

_  Despois,  Eugene.    Le  vandalisme  rivolutionnaire.    Paris,  1868.    viii  + 
380  pp. 

Douarche,  A.  U  University  de  Paris  et  les  Jisuites  (XVIe  et  XVIIe 
siecles).    Paris,  1888.    ix  +  327  pp. 

Dub  able,  Eugene.  Histoire  de  V '  University  depuis  son  origine  jusqu'a 
nos  jours.     Paris,  1829.    2  v. 

Dubois,  L'Abbe.  NouveUe  question:  Est-il  possible  d'etablir  dans  tous 
chef-lieux  de  departemeni  un  college  royal,  etc.  Orleans,  1818. 
64  pp. 

Dubroux,  C.  Un  collegien  de  Louis-le-Grand  (1716-1722).  Rev.  univ., 
1906,  I.,  pp.  316-320. 

Duhamel,  Joseph.  Le  college  de  Normandie.  Paris,  1901.  viii+  285 
pp. 

Duruy,  Albert,    L'instruction  publique  et  la  revolution.    Paris,  1882. 

IiImond,  G.    Histoire  du  lycie  Louis-le-Grand.    Paris,  1845.    iv+ 436  pp. 

Fischer  de  Chevriers,  Ph.  Histoire  de  I'instruction  populaire  en 
France  depuis  les  premiers  siecles  jusqu'en  1789.  Paris,  1884.  iii 
+  393  pp. 

France,  Vancien.    L'icole  et  la  science  jusqu'a  la  renaissance.    (No  au- 
thor.)    Paris,  1887.     330  pp. 
i 
^sGabc,  P.  E.     Etudes  historiques  et  critiques  sur  I'instruction  secondaire 
consiMrte  dans  ses  rapports  avec  Vital,  Vuniversite,  le  clerge",  et  les 
families.    Paris,  1844.    xvi  +  596  pp. 

Gaskoin,  C.  J.  B.  Alcuin:  His  life  and  his  work.  Lond.  xxii+ 
275  pp. 

Gaufres,  M.  J.  Claude  Baduel  et  la  reforme  des  itudes  au  XVIe  sibcle. 
Paris,  1880.     x-f  354  pp. 

Gautier,  Paul.  La  reforme  de  Venseignement  secondaire  sous  le  con- 
sulat.    Rev.  univ.,  II.,  pp.  218-230. 

\  j      I  Greard,  Octave.    Education  et  instruction.    Enseignement  secondaire. 
V      »  Paris,  1889.     2  v. 

Guillaume,  J.  Article  Convention,  in  Buisson,  Diet,  de  PSdagogie,  lre 
partie,  t.  I.,  pp.  520-571,  for  Plans  of  national  education  pre- 
sented to  the  Convention  nationale. 


APPENDIX  M  419 

Guizot,  F.     Histoire  de  la  civilisation  en  France  depuis  la  chute  de 

Vempire  romain.    Paris,  1879.    4  v. 

See  volume  II.  for  account  of  Alcuin  and  Charlemagne;  also  the  schools  of 
Gaul  from  the  sixth  to  the  eighth  century. 

Essai  sur  Vhistoire  et  sur  Vital  actuel  de  I'instruction  publique  en 
France.    Paris,  1816.    157  pp. 

Hamel,  Charles.  Histoire  de  Vabbaye  et  du  college  de  JuiUy  depuis 
leurs  origines  jusqu'a  nos  jours.  Paris,  1868.  2me  ed.  xvii  +  689 
pp. 

Histoire  littiraire  de  la  France.  Par  des  religieux  Benedictines  de  la 
congregation  de  S.  Maur.    Paris,  1866.    Circa  30  v. 

Volumes  IV.  and  V.  deal  with  the  time  of  Alcuin  and  his  successors. 

Hott,  John  W.  The  University  of  Paris  during  the  Middle  Ages.  Rep. 
Com.  Ed.,  1904,  I.,  pp.  519-558. 

Hughes,  Thomas.  Loyola  and  the  educational  system  of  the  Jesuits. 
Lond.,  1892.     ix+  302  pp. 

Jourdain,  Charles.     Rapport  sur  V organisation  et  le  progres  de  I'in- 
struction publique.    Paris,  1867.    ii  +  228  pp. 
Limited  practically  to  the  period  1850-1863. 

Kilian,  M.  Tableau  historique  de  I'instruction  secondaire  en  France 
depuis  les  temps  les  plus  reculis  jusqu'a  nos  jours.  Paris,  1841. 
344  pp. 

Kunz,  F.  X.  Johan  Gerson,  Pddagogische  Schriften,  ubersetzt  und  mil 
biographischen  Einleitung,  in  Bibliothek  der  katholischen  Pada- 
gogik.     Bd.  XV.,  pp.  67-171.    Freiburg,  1904.     ' 

Lantoine,  Henri.  Histoire  de  V enseignement  secondaire  en  France  au 
XVIP  siecle.     Paris,  1874.     xi+ 295  pp. 

Laurie,  S.  S.  Rise  and  early  constitutions  of  universities,  with  a  survey 
of  mediaeval  education,  a.  d.  1200-1350.  Lond.,  1886.  xii  + 
293  pp. 

Lavisse,  Ernest.     Histoire  de  France  depuis  les  origines  jusqu'a  la 

revolution.    Paris,  1900-.    7  v.  (up  to  1908). 

The  latest  and  best  history  of  France,  written  with  many  collaborators.    A 
work  of  the  same  character  as  the  Cambridge  Modern  History. 

Lefeuve.  Histoire  du  College  Rollin  {ci-devant  de  Sainte-Barbe)  et  des 
pension,  communaute,  et  college,  qui  constituent  son  origine.  Paris, 
1853.     412  pp. 

Lefranc,  Abel.  Histoire  du  College  de  France,  depuis  ses  origines 
jusqu'a  la  fin  du  premier  empire.    Paris,  1893. 

Lemonnier,  Henry.  Renaissance  en  France,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de 
France,    v.  V.,  liv.  II.,  ch.  II.,  pp.  149-184.    Paris,  1903. 


420  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Le  Ragois  (Precepteur  de  Monsieur  le  Due  du  Maine).    Instruction  sur 

Vhistoire  de  France  et  Romaine.     Nouvelle  Edition,   Paris,   1777. 

xvi  +  252+  236  pp. 

This  text-book  was  first  published  about  1684.  It  went  through  innumera- 
ble editions,  appearing  in  a  two-volume  revision  as  late  as  1820.  Most  of  it  waa 
in  catechetical  form,      in  order  not  to  overcharge  the  memory  of  the  reader." 

Liard,  Louis.    L'enseignement  superieur  en  France.    1789-1893.    Paris, 

1888,  1894.     2  v. 

Les  universiUs  francaises,  in  English  Board  of  Education,  Special 

V&eports  on  Educational   Subjects.     II.,   pp.   574-602.     English 

translation  by  J.  W.  Longsdon,  ibid.,  pp.  603-625.    Lond.,  1898. 

Lorenz.  Alcuins  Leben.  Halle,  1829.  English  translation  by  Jane 
Mary  Slee,  Lond.,  1837. 

Luchaire,  A.  L'enseignement,  in  Lavisse,  Histoire  de  France,  v.  II., 
pt.  2,  liv.  I.,  pp.  184-192.     Paris,  1901. 

An  account  of  the  schools  of  France  about  the  year  1000. 

Maitre,  Leon.  Les  ecoles  Episcopates  et  monastiques  de  Voccident,  de- 
puis  Charlemagne  jusqu'a  Philippe  Auguste  (768-1180).  Paris, 
1866. 

L'instruction  publique  dans  les  villes  et  les  campagnes  du  comte 
Nantais  avant  1789.     Nantes,  1882. 

Mathias,  M.    De  l'enseignement  public.    Paris,  1776.    xvi+  125  pp. 

Michaud,  L'Abbe  E.  Guillaume  de  Champeaux  et  les  icoles  de  Paris  au 
XIIe  siecle,  d'apres  des  documents  inedits.    Paris,  1867.    iii+  547  pp. 

Monnier,  Francis.  Alcuin  et  Charlemagne,  avec  des  fragments  d'un 
commentaire  inSdit  d' Alcuin  sur  Saint  Matthieu,  et  d'autres  pieces 
publiees  pour  la  premiere  fois.    Paris,  1864.    2me  6d.    iv+  376  pp. 

Monod,  Bernard.  La  pedagogie  et  I'e'ducation  au  moyen  age,  d'apres 
les  souvenirs  d'un  moine  du  XIe  siecle.  Rev.  univ.,  1904,  I.,  pp. 
25-36. 

Monteil,  Amans- Alexis.  Histoire  des  Frangais  des  divers  itats,  ou 
Histoire  de  France  aux  cinq  derniers  siecles.  Paris,  1847.  3me  6d. 
5v. 

Mullinger,  J.  B.  The  schools  of  Charles  the  Great  and  the  restoration  of 
education  in  the  9th  century.    Lond.,  1877.    xx  +  193  pp. 

Muteau,  Charles.  Les  icoles  et  colleges  en  province  depuis  les  tempt 
les  plus  reculis  jusqu'en  1789.    Dijon,  1882.    xlv+  601  pp. 

Perraud,  Adolphe.     L'Oratoire  de  France  au  XVIIe  et  au  XIXe 

siecle.    Paris,  1865.    xv+  521  pp. 
Picavet,  Francois.     Les  ideologues.     Essai  sur  Vhistoire  des  idtes  et 

des  theories  scientifiques,  philosophiques,  religeuses,  etc.,  en  France 

depuis  1789.    Paris,  1891.    xii+  628  pp. 


uX 


APPENDIX  M  421 

Prat,  J.  M.  (le  P&re).  Maldonat  et  V University  de  Paris  au  XVIe 
siecle.    Paris,  1856.    vi+  637  pp. 

Quicherat,  Jules.  Histoire  de  Sainte-Barbe,  college,  communauti, 
institution.     Paris,  1860-1864.     3  v. 

Rashdall,  H.  The  universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages.  Oxford, 
1895.     2  v. 

de  Riancey,  Henry.  Histoire  critique  et  legislation  de  Vinstruction 
publique  et  de  la  liberie'  de  V enseignement  en  France.  Paris,  1844.  2  v. 

Rollin.  De  la  maniere  d'enseigner  et  d'etudier  les  belles  lettres,  par 
rapport  a  V esprit  et  au  coeur.    Paris,  1786.    4  v. 

Commonly  known  as  Traiti  des  Uudes.    This  is  only  one  of  the  numerous 
editions  through  which  this  work  has  passed. 

Sainte-Beuve.    Histoire  de  Port-Royal.    Paris,  1871.    6  v. 

Volume  III.,  pp.  405-589,  and  volume  IV.,  pp.  1-105,  contain  the  account 
of  the  "  little  schools." 

de  Saint-Priest,  Cte  Alexis.  Histoire  de  la  chute  des  J&suites  au 
XVIIP  siecle  (1752-1782).    Paris,  1844.    xvii+  372  pp. 

Schmidt,  Charles.  La  vie  de  Jean  Sturm.  Strasbourg,  1855.  viii-h 
335  pp. 

Silvy,  A.    Essai  d'une  bibliographic  historique  de  V enseignement  secon-     j 
daire  et  supfrieur  en  France  avant  la  revolution.    Paris,  n.  d.  149  pp. 
This  work  is  carried  down  to  1892. 

Simon,  Jules.     La  riforme  de  V enseignement  secondaire.     Paris,  1874.  " 
432  pp. 

Steeg,  Jules.  Lycies  et  colleges,  in  Buisson,  Dictionnaire  de  pedagogic 
lre  partie,  t.  2,  pp.  1739-1752. 

Thery,  A.  F.  Histoire  de  Veducation  en  France  depuis  le  Ve  siecle 
jusqu'a  nos  jours.    Paris,  1861.    2  v. 

Thurot,  Charles.  De  V organisation  de  V enseignement  dans  VUniver- 
site  de  Paris  au  moyen  age.    Paris,  1850.    213+  pp. 

Troplong.     Du  pouvoir  de  V&tat  sur  V enseignement  d'apres  Vancien 
droit  francais.     Paris,  1844.     319  pp. 
Carried  down  through  1762. 

Vallet  de  Viriville.  Histoire  de  Vinstruction  publique  en  Europe,  et 
principalement  en  France,  depuis  le  Christianisme  jusqu'a  nos  jours. 
Paris,  1849.     iv+  400  pp. 

Waddington,  Charles.  Ramus  (Pierre  la  Ramie).  Sa  vie,  ses  Perils, 
ses  opinions.     Paris,  1855.     480  pp. 


422  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

West,  Andrew  Fleming.    Alcuin  and  the  rise  of  the  Christian  schools. 
Lond.,  1893.    x+  205  pp. 

Woodward,  William  Harrison.    Desiderius  Erasmus  concerning  the 
aim  and  method  of  education.    Cambridge,  1904.    xvii  +  244  pp. 


III.     GENERAL  AUTHORITIES:  SECONDARY 
/  Annuaire  de  la  jeunesse.    Vuibert  et  Nony,  6diteurs. 

Annual  publication  containing  much  general,  though  unofficial,  information 
about  France  educationally. 

j  Arnold,  Matthew.    A  French  Eton,  or  middle  class  education  and  the 
state.    Lond.,  1864. 

Baccalaureat,  Pour  et  contre  le.  (No  author.)  Rev.  int.,  1907,  II.,  pp. 
218-229. 

Bornecque,  Henri.  Avons-nous  quelque  chose  a  prendre  d  Venseigne- 
ment  anglais?    Rev.  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  221-231. 

Breal,  Michel.  Quelques  mots  sur  Vinstruction  publique  en  France 
Paris,  1873.     410  pp. 

Briand,  Aristide.  Separation  des  iglises  et  de  Vital.  Rapport  officiel 
Paris,  1905.     340  pp. 

Chabot,  Charles.  Contemporory  educational  thought  in  France.  Ed 
Rev.,  XXXVL,  pp.  43-54. 

Compayre,  Gabriel.  Public  instruction  in  France  in  1906.  Elem 
Sch.  Teach.,  VII.,  pp.  369-378. 

Recent  educational  progress  in  France.  Ed.  Rev.,  XXVII. ,  pp 
19-35. 

Reform  in  secondary  education  in  France.  Ed.  Rev.,  XXV.,  pp 
130-145. 

k'Croiset,  Alfred.    L'enseignement  classique  et  V enseignement  moderne 
Paris,  1898.     9  pp. 

Crouzet,  Paul.  Pourquoi  nous  coopirons  mal  avec  les  parents.  Rev 
univ.,  1905,  II.,  pp.  199-214;  290-307. 

Demolins,  Edmond.  A  quoi  tient  la  supirioriU  des  Anglo-Saxons? 
Paris,  1897.     2me  6d.     xxxii  +  410  pp. 

L'ecole  des  Roches.    Elem.  Sch.  Teach.,  VI.,  pp.  227-240. 
U education  nouvelle.    L'tcole  des  Roches.    Paris,  1899.    xii+  320 
pp. 

Fortier,  Alcee.  Education  in  France.  Rep.  Com.  Ed.,  1895-'96,  I., 
pp.  635-639. 


y 


APPENDIX  M  423 

Fouillee,  Alfred.    La  France  au  point  de  vue  morale.    Paris,  1900. 
L'enseignement  au  point  de  vue  nationale.    Paris,  1891.    xviii  + 
451  pp. 

Friedel,  Victor  H.  Problems  of  secondary  education  in  France.  Sch. 
Rev.,  XV.,  pp.  169-183. 

Girard,  Raymond  de.     Questions  d'enseignement  secondaire.     Paris, 

1905.  2  v. 

Goujon,  Henri.    L' administration  des  colleges.    Paris,  n.  d. 

Hardy,  E.  L.  The  lyc4es  of  France.  Sch.  Rev.,  VII.,  pp.  549-559; 
VEIL,  pp.  18-25;  IX.,  pp.  459-475. 

Hughes,  R.  E.    The  making  of  citizens.    Lond.,  1900.    vi+  405  pp. 

Jonas,  J.  B.  E.    The  secondary  curriculum  in  France.    Sch.  Rev.,  VIII.,  *S 
pp.  244-253. 

Kirkman,  F.  B.  Position  of  teachers  in  the  state  secondary  schools  for 
boys  in  France.  English  Board  of  Education,  Special  Reports 
on  Educational  Subjects.    1898.    v.  II.,  pp.  626-633. 

Langlois,  Ch.  V.  La  question  de  l'enseignement  secondaire  en  France 
et  d  Vetranger.    Paris,  1900.    137  pp. 

Lanson,  Gustave.  L'enseignement  secondaire,  in  Enseignement  et 
dtmocratie,  pp.  181-207.    Paris,  1905. 

L'universite  et  la  societe"  moderne.    Paris,  1902.    xi+  122  pp. 

Marion,  Henri.  L' education  dans  l'universite'.  Paris,  1892.  xxxiii+ 
400  pp. 

V 

Sabatier,  Paul.    A  propos  de  separation  des  iglises  et  de  Vetat.    Paris, 

1906.  6me  eU    lxxxiv+  216  pp. 

Sadler,  M.  E.    The  unrest  in  secondary  education  in  Germany  and  else-  iX 
where.    English  Board  of  Education,  Special  Reports  on  Educa- 
tional Subjects.    Lond.,  1902.    IX.,  pp.  1-191. 

United  States  Bureau  of  Education.     Report  of  the  Commissioner  of    ^S 
Education.     1890-91.    v.  I.,  pp.  109-124.    Program  of  1890-91. 
1895-96.     v.  I.,  pp.  635-639. 
1898-99.     v.  I.,  pp.  1106-1138.    Extracts  from  Ribot,  EnqvMe. 

1901.  v.  I.,  pp.  1103-1109. 

1902.  v.  I.,  pp.  685-698.  Program  of  1902. 

1905.  v.  I.,  pp.  76-80. 

1906.  v.  I.,  pp.  30-32.    See  pp.  19-26  for  good  short  account 
of  the  "  law  of  separation." 

1907.  v.  I.,  pp.  143-157. 

1908.  v.  I.,  pp.  230-238. 

Vuibert,  H.  La  reforme  de  l'enseignement  secondaire  expliquie  aux 
families.     Paris,  1902.     47  pp. 


424  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

IV.  SUBJECTS   OF  INSTRUCTION 

A.  French  and  the  Classics 

Andre,  C    Dans  quelle  mesure  se  sert-on  encore  du  latin?    Rev.  int.,  I., 
pp.  503-512. 

Bornecque,  Henry.     Comment  rendre  nos  eleves  plus  forts  en  grec  et 
en  latin?    Rev.  univ.,  1904,  II.,  pp.  205-214. 

Bourgin,    Hubert.      L' explication   des    textes,    "  exercice   principal." 
Rev.  univ.,  1906,  II.,  pp.  293-298. 

Simples  notes  sur  la  translation  or  ale  des  textes  latins.     Rev. 
univ.,  1907,  I.,  pp.  228-238. 

Brelet,  H.    L'enseignement  grammatical  dans  V enseignement  secondaire. 
Paris,  1897. 

Croiset,  M.     L'enseignement  du  grec  dans  les  lyc&es  et  colleges.     Rev. 
int.,  1903,  II.,  pp.  19-28. 

Frary,  Raoul.    La  question  du  latin.    Paris,  1885.    323  pp. 

.^/Hartog,  P.  J.    Teaching  the  mother  tongue  in  France.   Ed.  Rev.,  XXXV., 
pp.  331-350. 

Hauvette,  Amedee.    De  V etude  du  grec  dans  l'enseignement  secondaire. 
et  methode.    Rev.  int.,  1903,  I.,  pp.  385-407. 


Henry,  V.,  F.  Brunot,  H.  Goelzer,  L.  Sudre,  Ch.  Maquet.  L'en- 
seignement de  la  grammaire.  Conferences  du  Musee  pe'dagogique, 
1906.    Paris,  1906.    185  pp. 

Lavaud,  Rene.  Une  petite  reforme  pedagogique :  l'enseignement  de  la 
syntaxe  latine  et  la  question  du  mot  a  mot.  Rev.  univ.,  1904,  II., 
pp.  93-107. 

Levy-Wogue,  F.  Une  experience  de  methode  directe  dans  l'enseignement 
du  latin.    Rev.  int.,  1903,  I.,  pp.  439-441. 

Mace,  Alcide.  La  prononciation  international^  du  latin  au  XXe  siecle. 
Roma,  1905.     11  pp. 

Seure,  Georges.  Professeurs  spfciaux  de  grec.  Rev.  univ.,  1905,  I., 
pp.  104-113. 

Vessiot,  A.  La  question  du  latin  de  M.  Frary  et  les  professions  libe'rales. 
Paris,  1886.     2me  ed.     71  pp. 


APPENDIX  M  425 


B.  History  and  Geography 

Busson,  Henri.  Quelques  mots  sur  I'enseignement  de  Vhistoire  parti- 
culierement  dans  le  premier  cycle.    Rev.  univ.,  1905,  I.,  pp.  26-34. 

Coustel,  Pierre.  Les  regies  de  V Education  des  enfants,  ou  il  est  parle 
en  detail  de  la  maniere  dont  il  se  faut  conduire,  pour  leur  inspirer 
les  sentiments  d'une  solide  piite;  et  pour  leur  apprendre  parfaitement 
les  belles  lettres.    Paris,  1687.    2  v. 

Dutil,  Leon.  A  propos  de  geographic  Rev.  univ.,  1906,  I.,  pp.  306- 
315. 

Sur  I'enseignement  de  la  geographic     Rev.  univ.,  1903,  I.,  pp. 
249-251. 

La  Mothe  le  Vayer,  Francois  de.  La  gtographie  du  prince.  Paris, 
1651.     ix+  346  pp. 

Langlois,  Ch.  V.  Agrigation  d'histoire  et  de  giographie,  concours  de 
1907.     Rev.  univ.,  1907,  II.,  pp.  277-296. 

Machat,  J.  La  classe  d'une  heure  en  geographic  Rev.  univ.,  1906,  II., 
pp.  93-101. 

Methode  abregie  et  facile  pour  apprendre  la  giographie,  ou  Von  decrit  la 
forme  du  gouvernement  de  chaque  pays,  ses  qualites,  les  moeurs  de 
ses  habitants,  et  ce  qu'U  y  ade  plus  remarquable.  Par  A.  L.  F.  Paris, 
1772.     x+516pp. 

Rosenthal,  Leon.  Note  sur  I'enseignement  de  Vhistoire.  Rev.  univ., 
1902,  I.,  pp.  44-45. 

Seignobos,  Ch.,  Ch.  V.  Langlois,  L.  Gallouedec,  M.  Tourneur. 
L'enseignement  de  Vhistoire.  Conferences  du  Mus6e  p^dagogique, 
1907.     Paris,  1907.     185  pp. 

Vidal  de  la  Blache,  L.  Gallois,  P.  Dupuy.  L'enseignement  de  la 
geographic    Conferences  du  Mus6e  p^dagogique,  1905,  pp.  115-211. 

Vidal  de  la  Blache.  Les  rapports  de  la  geographie  avec  la  sociologie. 
Rev.  univ.,  1904,  IL,  pp.  123-125. 

Weill,  Georges.  L' application  des  nouveaux  programmes  d'histoire; 
a  propos  d'un  ouvrage  ricent.    Rev.  univ.,  1906,  I.,  pp.  106-116. 


C.   Mathematics  and  Science 

Ascoli,  Marcel.  Les  sciences  matfdmatiques  dans  I'enseignement 
secondaire,  d'apres  les  conferences  du  Muse"e  pedagogique,  in  Revue 
generate  des  sciences  pures  et  appliquees,  30  mai,  1904,  pp.  496-505. 


J 


426  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Bouassb,  H.  L'enseignement  des  sciences  physiques  dans  V enseignement 
secondaire.     Paris,  1901.     24  pp. 

Reprint  from  Journal  de  l'enseignement  secondaire. 

Hadamakd,  Jacques.  Les  sciences  dans  l'enseignement  secondaire,  in 
L' education  et  la  democratic,  pp.  223-251.    Paris,  1903. 

Laisant,  C.  A.  U  education  fondee  sur  la  science.  Paris,  1904.  xlv  + 
153  pp. 

Le  Dantec,  Mangin,  Pechoutre,  Caustier,  Vidal  de  la  Blache, 
Gallois,  Dupuy.  L'enseignement  des  sciences  naturelles  et  de  la 
geographic    Conferences  du  Musee  pedagogique,  1905.    211  pp. 

LlARD,    L.,    H.    POINCARE,    G.    LlPPMANN,    L.    PoiNCARE,    P.    LANGEVIN, 

E.  Borel,  F.  Marotte.  L'enseignement  des  sciences  mathematiques 
et  les  sciences  physiques-.  Conferences  du  Mus6e  p6dagogique,  1904. 
Paris,  1904.    xiv+  179  pp. 


D.  Modern  Languages 

Abry,  E.  Lefrancais  et  les  langues  vivantes.  Rev.  univ.,  1907,  I.,  pp. 
428-433. 

Bourgogne,  L.  Les  mtthodes  pour  l'enseignement  des  langues  vivantes. 
Revue  pedagogique,  1907,  I.,  pp.  16-28. 

Breal,  Michel.  De  l'enseignement  des  langues  vivantes:  conferences 
faites  aux  Uudiants  en  lettres  de  la  Sorbonne.    Paris,  1893.  147  pp. 

David,  Henry  C.  E.  Direct  method  in  the  French  secondary  school. 
Sch.  Rev.,  XVI.,  pp.  123-125. 

Firmery,  J.  L'enseignement  des  langues  vivantes,  d'apres  les  nouveaux 
programmes.    Rev.  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  329-350;   446-454. 

Francois,  A.  La  conversation  et  la  lecture  dans  I'itude  des  langues 
vivantes.     Rev.  univ.,  1902,  I.,  p.  46. 

Guyton  de  Morveau.  Memoire  sur  Veducation  publique,  avec  le  pro- 
spectus d'un  college,  suivant  les  principes  de  cet  ouvrage.  Paris,  1764. 
324  pp. 

Hankin,  Gerald  T.  Les  assistants  strangers  dans  nos  classes  de  langues 
vivantes.    Revue  pedagogique,  1906,  II.,  pp.  558-562. 

Lancelot,  Claude.  Nouvelle  methode  pour  apprendre  facilement  et  en 
peu  de  temps  la  langue  espagnole.    Paris,  1675.    2me  6d.    116  pp. 

Nouvelle  methode  pour  apprendre  facilement  et  en  peu  de  temps  la 
langue  italienne.    Paris,  1674.    2me  6d.    120  pp. 

Laudenbach,  H.  Etude  d'un  texte  de  langue  vivante  dans  les  classes  de 
grammaire.    Rev.  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  147-160. 


APPENDIX  M  427 

Lecoq,  J.  L'enseignement  vivant  des  langues  vivantes.  Paris,  1903. 
105  pp. 

Rapport  d'un  inspecteur  general.  Situation  de  l'enseignement  des 
langues  vivantes  dans  l'enseignement  secondaire  en  1905-1906.  Rev. 
univ.,  1907,  II.,  pp.  93-109. 

Schweitzer,  Charles.  La  mithode  directe  et  la  lecture  des  auteurs. 
Rev.  univ.,  1904,  II.,  pp.  322-330. 

^Methodologie  des  langues  vivantes.  Notes  prises  aux  conferences 
faites  a  la  Sorbonne.  Rev.  univ.,  1903,  I.,  pp.  462-469;  II.,  pp. 
1-10;  105-115. 

Sigwalt,  Ch.  De  l'enseignement  des  langues  vivantes.  Idies  d'un  vieux 
professeur  dedties  aux  jeunes.    Paris,  1906.    xiii+  288  pp. 

Varenne,  Gaston,  he  role  de  la  grammaire  dans  l'enseignement  des 
langues  vivantes.    Rev.  univ.,  1905,  I.,  pp.  12-25. 

See  also  the  volumes  of  these  periodicals,  primarily  devoted  to  modern 
languages : 

Les  Langues  Modernes.  Bulletin  mensuel  de  la  Soci^te*  des  Pro- 
fesseurs  des  Langues  Vivantes  de  l'Enseignement  Public.  Paris, 
1903-. 

Revue  de  l'Enseignement  des  Langues  Vivantes.    Paris,  1884-. 

E.   Other  Subjects  of  Instruction 

Catalogue  du  material  d'enseignement  du  dessin  dans  les  lycies  et  colleges. 

Instructions  relatives  a  cet  enseignement,  1906.     Bull,  adm.,  1906, 

II.,  pp.  1138-1163. 

These  instructions  are  mainly  a  reproduction  of  those  issued,  July  15,  1890, 
though  with  some  modifications. 

Pillet,  J.  J.    L'enseignement  ge'ne'ral  du  dessin  dans  les  lycies  et  colleges 

de  France.     Paris,  1899. 
Roubaudi,   C.     Le  dessin  graphique  dans   l'enseignement  secondaire. 

Paris,  1905. 

Demeny,  Georges.  Guide  de  maitre  charge"  de  l'enseignement  des  exer- 
cices  physiques  dans  les  tcoles  publiques  et  privees.  Paris,  1900. 
2me  ed.     167  pp. 

Manuel  d'exercices  gymnastiques  et  de  jeux  scolaires.  Paris,  1891. 
xviii+  276  pp. 

Official  publication  of  the  Ministry  of  Public  Instruction. 

\/  Darbon,  A.  L'enseignement  de  la  morale  au  lycie.  (Rapport  pr^sente* 
au  conseil  acad^mique  de  Montpellier.)  Rev.  univ.,  1907,  I., 
pp.  413-423;  II.,  pp.  11-25. 

L' education  morale  dans  V university  (enseignement  secondaire). 
Conferences  et  discussions  pr6sid6es  par  M.  Alfred  Croiset.  Paris, 
1901.    xii+  241  pp. 


428  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Affre,   Mgr.    (l'archeveque  de   Paris).     MSmoire  sur  Venseignement 
philosophique  adresse  a  la  Chambre  des  Pairs.    Paris,  1844.    40  pp. 

•''Belot,  Gustave.    La  nouvelle  situation  des  classes  de  philosophic    Rev. 
V  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  351-366. 

Garnier,  Adolphe.    Reponse  au  Mimoire  de  M.  VArcheveque  de  Paris, 
sur  Venseignement  philosophique.    Paris,  1844.    22  pp. 

Goblot,  Edmond.     Sur  Venseignement  philosophique  en  mathe'matiques 
bUmentaires.    Rev.  univ.,  1907,  II.,  pp.  388-406. 


Pujo,  Maurice.  Contre  la  classe  de  philosophie  de  Venseignement  sec- 
ondare.   Lettre  ouverte  a  M.  Jules  Lemaitre.    Paris,  1899.    29  pp. 

V/Vanderem,  F.,  Th.  Ribot,  E.  Boutroux,  P.  Janet  et  A.  Fouillee, 
G.  Monod,  G.  Lacaze,  H.  Marion,  G.  Lyon,  L.  Marillier,  Abbe 
Clamadieu,  J.  Bourdeau,  H.  Taine.  Pour  et  contre  Venseigne- 
ment philosophique.  Extrait  de  la  Revue  Bleue.  Paris,  1894. 
178  pp. 

V.   EDUCATION   OF  GIRLS 

Appell,  Paul.  Vceu  d6pos6  hors  session  relatif  a  Venseignement  secon- 
dare des  jeunes  filles.    Rev.  int.,  1906,  II.,  pp.  210-212. 

Association  pour  Venseignement  secondaire  des  filles.  Programme  des 
cours  de  la  Sorbonne,  1868.    Paris,  1868.    15  pp. 

Bachellery,  Josephine.  Lettres  sur  Viducation  des  femmes.  Paris, 
1848.    vii+  237  pp. 

Campan,  Mme.  De  I 'Education,  suivi  des  conseils  aux  jeunes  filles,  d'un 
thiatre  pour  les  jeunes  personnes,  et  de  quelques  essais  de  morale. 
Paris,  1824.     2  v. 

Lettres  de  deux  jeunes  amies,  Sieves  d'Ecouen.     Paris,  1824.     194 
pp. 

Dugard,  M.  Secondary  education  of  girls  in  France.  Proc.  Nat.  Ed. 
Assoc.,  1893,  pp.  211-216. 

Duruy,  V.  Enseignement  secondaire  des  filles.  Instructions  aux  rec- 
teurs,  30  octobre  1867.  Circulates  et  instructions  officielles,  pp. 
545-548. 

Gonnet,  A.  Le  diplome  defin  d'ttudes  dans  les  lycees  et  colleges  de  jeunes 
filles.    Rev.  univ.,  1905,  II.,  pp.  1-18. 

Guerlac,  Othon.  Education  of  women  in  France.  Ed.  Rev.,  XXXV., 
pp.  272-284. 

Levasseur,  Emile.  Association  pour  Venseignement  secondaire  des 
jeunes  filles  (1902-1903).  Ouverture  des  cours  dans  V amphitMdtre 
de  chimie  a  la  Sorbonne,  le  15  novembre  1902.    Paris,  1902.    10  pp. 


APPENDIX  M  429 

Lyc4es  de  jeunes  files.  25  ans  de  discours,  avec  une  preface  par  Mar- 
celin  Berthelot.    Paris,  1907.    xi+  351  pp. 

Marion,  Henri.  V education  des  jeunes  files.  Paris,  1902.  x+  380 
pp. 

L 'education  des  jeunes  files.    Extraits  de  la  livre  sur  Etudes  de 
psychologie  feminine.    Rev.  univ.,  1902,  I.,  pp.  231-249. 

Moll- Weiss,  Augusta.  Les  internals  de  jeunes  files  dans  Vavenir. 
Rev.  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  232-240. 

Plan  deludes  et  programmes  de  V enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes 
files.    Arrete"  du  27  juillet,  1897.    Paris,  1908.    lvi+  96  pp. 

Port-Royal  du  S.  Sacrement,  Les  constitutions  du  monastere  de.  Mons, 
1665.     1  +  274  pp. 

Programs  of  admission  conditions  for  the  various  examinations : 

Concours   d'agregation   et  certificats   d'aptitude  a  V enseignement 
secondaire.    Collection  Delalain,  No.  12. 

L'ecole  normale  secondaire  de  Sevres,  1908.    No.  63. 

Reglements  et  arretes  concernant  les  maisons  d' education  de  files.  Extrait 
du  Recueil  des  actes  administratifs,  prefecture  du  departement  de  la 
Seine,    pp.  479-498.    Paris,  1844. 

Romieu,  Mme.  Marie.  (Marie  Sincere,  pseud.)  Les  pensionnats  de 
jeunes  files.    Paris,  1854.    2me  ed.    94  pp. 

See,  Camille.  Lycees  et  colleges  de  jeunes  files.  Documents,  rapports, 
et  discours.  Decrets,  arretis,  circulaires,  etc.  Paris,  1900.  7me  6d. 
xli+  1317  pp. 

Vingt-cinquieme  anniversaire  de  la  creation  des  lycies  de  jeunes  files,  in 
L' enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes  filles,  1907,  I.,  pp.  241-335. 

See  also  these  periodicals : 

L'enseignement  secondaire  des  jeunes  filles.     Revue  mensuelle, 
fondee  et  dirigee  par  Camille  See.    Paris,  1882-. 

Revue  de  l'enseignement  des  femmes.    Paris,  1845-1848. 


VI.  TRAINING   OF  TEACHERS 

Chabot,  Charles.  Professional  training  of  teachers  in  France.  See 
Congress  of  Arts  and  Sciences,  Universal  Exposition,  St.  Louis, 
1904.    VIII.,  pp.  176-191. 

Cledat,  L.  Les  nouvelles  6coles  normales.  Rev.  int.,  1907, 1.,  pp.  157— 
161. 

La  reforme  de  I'tcole  normale  supirieure  et  les  universiUs  de  pro- 
vince.   Rev.  int.,  1906,  I.,  pp.  46-60. 


430  FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 

Dugard,  M.  De  la  formation  des  mattres  de  I'enseignement  secondaire 
en  France  et  a  Vetranger.    Paris,  1902.    x+  242  pp. 

Dupuy,  Paul.  Le  centenaire  de  l'ecole  normale  (1795-1895).  Paris, 
1895.    xlviii  +  699  pp. 

L'ecole  normale.  X  propos  de  l'ecole  normale  et  de  la  reorganisation  des 
facultes  de  province.  Par  un  eleve  de  l'ecole  normale  superieure. 
Rev.  int.,  1907,  I.,  pp.  230-240. 

tfcole  normale  superieure.  Seance  du  mercredi  23  novembre  1904.  Rev. 
int.,  1904,  II.,  pp.  481-495. 

Girard,  Paul.  L'enseignement  pedagogique  a  l'ecole  normale  superieure. 
Rev.  univ.,  1903,  II.,  pp.  205-217. 

Kirkman,  F.  B.  Position  of  teachers  in  the  state  secondary  schools  for 
boys  in  France.  English  Board  of  Education,  Special  Reports  on 
Educational  Subjects.    II.,  pp.  626-633. 

Langlois,  Ch.  V.  La  preparation  a  I'enseignement  secondaire,  au 
Musee  pedagogique.    Rev.  pedagogique,  1905,  II.,  pp.  505-517. 

La  preparation  professionnelle  a  I'enseignement  secondaire.    Paris, 
1902.     223  pp. 

/Lanson,   Gustave.     La  reorganisation  de  l'ecole  normale.     Rev.  de 
Paris,  1903,  VI.,  pp.  520-536. 

Lyon,  Georges.  La  pedagogie  et  l'ecole  normale  en  1902.  Introduction 
a  Enseignement  et  religion,  etudes  philosophiques.  Paris,  1907. 
239  pp. 

Masse.  La  reforme  de  l'ecole  normale.  Rapport  du  budget  de  V instruc- 
tion publique,  1905,  pp.  119-127. 

>    Monod,  Gabriel.    La  pedagogie  historique  a  l'ecole  normale  superieure 
en  1888.    Rev.  int.,  1907,  II.,  pp.  199-207. 

Perrot,  Georges.  La  pedagogie  a  l'ecole  normale,  1902-1903.  Rev. 
int.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  516-523. 

Picavet,  Francois.  Reforme  des  agregations.  Rev.  int.,  1904,  II,, 
pp.  10-26. 

Salmon,  Lucy  M.  Training  of  teachers  in  France.  Ed.  Rev.,  XIX., 
pp.  383-404. 

/  Seignobos,  Charles.     La  preparation  pedagogique  des  professeurs  de 
I'enseignement  secondaire.    Rev.  univ.,  1902,  II.,  pp.  455-462. 

Tannery,  Jules.  L'enseignement  pedagogique  a  l'ecole  normale  su- 
perieure.   Rev.  int.,  1902,  I.,  pp.  304-314. 


APPENDIX  N 

BOYS'    SECONDARY   SCHOOLS 

WEEKLY   PROGRAM  — REGULATIONS  OF  1902,  1905, 

1912 x 

Pbeparatory  Division 


I  Year 

HRS. 

French 9 

Moral  and  civic  instruction 2 

Writing 2\ 

Simple  history  stories    ...  1 

Geography \\ 

Arithmetic 3 

Nature  study      1 

Drawing 1 

Singing 1 

Total 20 


II  Year 

HRS. 

French 7 

Moral  and  civic  instruction 2  . . 

Modern  languages     ....  2 

Writing 2| 

Simple  history  stories   ...  1 

Geography      \\ 

Arithmetic 3 

Nature  Study 1 

Drawing 1 

Singing 1 

Total 20 


1  ArrStis,  May  31,  1902,  July  27,  28,  and  Sept.  8,  1905,  and  Nov.  15, 
1912,  Plan  d'etudes  et  programmes  d'mseignement  dans  les  lyctes  et  colleges  de 
garcons,  Delalain  Freres,  1913,  pp.  xix-xxii. 

2  This  instruction  will  be  given  in  connection  with  the  instruction  in 
French,  history,  and  geography,  and  is  included  in  the  time  assigned  to  these 
subjects. 


432 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


Elementary  Division 
(Eighth  and  seventh  forms) 


HRS. 
7 


French 

Moral  and  civic  instruction  * 

Modern  languages 2 

Writing      1 

History  and  geography 3 

Arithmetic 4 

Nature  Study 1 

Drawing    . 1 

Singing 1 


Total 


20 


FIRST  CYCLE 

(Length,  four  years;  from  the  sixth  to  the  third  form  inclusive) 

Division  A  Division  B 

Sixth  Form 


French  and  Latin 10 

Modern  languages 5 

History  and  geography  ...  3 

Arithmetic 2 

Natural  science 1 

Drawing .  2 


HRS. 

French 6 

Writing 1 

Modern  languages  ......  5 

History  and  geography  ...  3 

Arithmetic 3 

Natural  science 2 

Drawing 2 


Total 


23  Total 

Fifth  Form 


22 


HRS. 

French  and  Latin 10 

Modern  languages 5 

History  and  geography  ...  3 

Arithmetic 2 

Natural  science 1 

Drawing 2 


HRS. 

French 6 

Writing 1 

Modern  languages 5 

History  and  geography  ...  3 
Mathematics  and  mechanical 

drawing 4 

Natural  science 1 

Drawing 2 


Total      23  Total 22 

1  This  instruction  will  be  given  in  connection  with  the  instruction  in 
French,  history,  and  geography,  and  is  included  in  the  time  assigned  to  these 
subjects. 


APPENDIX  N 


433 


Fourth  Form 


With  Without 
Greek    Greek 

HRS.  HRS. 


Literary  instruction: 

ethics,  French,  Latin  .    .  10  10 

Greek 3  .. 

Modern  languages   ....  3  4 

History  and  geography  .    .  3  3 

Mathematics 2  2 

Natural  science 1  1 

Drawing 1  2 

Totals    .......  23  22 


Literary  instruction: 

ethics,  French    ....  6 

Modern  languages.    ...  4 

History  and  geography     .  3 
Mathematics,    book-keep- 
ing, and  mechanical 

drawing 4| 

Physics  and  chemistry  .    .  1? 

Natural  science      ....  1 

Drawing *    .    .  - 2 

Total 22 


Third  Form 

With  Without 
Greek    Greek 


Literary  instruction: 

ethics,  French,  Latin  .    .  11  11 

Greek 3  . . 

Modern  languages   ....  3  4 

History  and  geography  .    .  3  3 

Mathematics 3  3 

Drawing 1  2 


Totals 24    23 


Literary  instruction : 

ethics,  French     ....  7 
Modern  languages     ...  5 
History  and  geography     .  3 
Mathematics  and  mechan- 
ical drawing 5 

Physics  and  chemistry      .  1^ 

Natural  science      ....  1 

Book-keeping  2 

Drawing      2 

Total 24£ 


1  One  hour  for  mechanical  drawing. 

8  One  optional  hour  of  practical  book-keeping  in  those  schools  where  it  is 
deemed  advisable,  the  decision  being  made  by  the  professors  in  general 
meeting. 


434 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


St 


9 


o 

> 

T3 

u 

§ 

p 

£ 

QQ 

yA 

o 

Js 

u 

w 

s 

QQ 

o 

m 

•  *■ 

§ 

o 

>> 

8 

1 

•*3 

A 

I 

a 

A 

o  °  a  a 

GO  — 


dm  §  a 

02  — ' 


j 
CO 


I'll 

1.111 

o  «  d  d 


gas 

cc 


gill 

B  d  o  bC 

H       R  eS 

02  * 


sit 

■ 

GO  


CO 


N.htHiocOCMCMCM 


r-i       cm       *o  co  cm  cm  cm 


W^COCMiOCMCMtH 


CM  CM 

+ 
CM         CM      •      •      • 


+ 


rH         CM         CM 


IS 


II 

IS  >> 


1111118    I 


I1 


W      8 

S0 


.s 


3  o 

99 


■g 


C     GO 

3   o  #o  .9 

►5  'S3  *S  ^ 

illl 


APPENDIX  N 
Philosophy  and  Mathematics  Forms 


435 


Philosophy 

Mathematics 

Section  A 

Section  B 

Section  A 

Section  B 

Philosophy 

Greek-Latin 

HRS. 

8* 

..       4* 

HRS. 

81 

..       2* 

3* 

..       2* 
h 
5 

2 

..       2* 

HRS. 

3 

2 

3| 

8 

5 

2 
2 

p  +2*3 

HRS. 

3 

Latin 

Modern  languages     .    .    . 

History  and  geography     . 
Mathematics 

..       2* 

31 

2* 

6 

3J 

8 

Cosmography 

Physics  and  chemistry  .    . 
Physics  and  chemistry  lab- 
oratory     

5 

5 
2 

Natural  sciences     .... 
Drawing 

2 

2* 

2 

l2  +  2*3 

Hygiene  (12  lectures  of  one 
hour  each)4 

Totals 

22|  +  6* 

26£  +  2* 

27|  +  2* 

*  Optional. 

1  The  pupils  have  the  right  to  select  for  themselves  the  distribution  of 
these  two  hours. 

2  Mechanical  drawing. 

8  Freehand  drawing  is  optional. 

4  These  lectures  are  included  in  the  natural  science  instruction. 


INDEX 


The  following  abbreviations  are  used  in  this  index:  dip.,  diploma; 
exam.,  examination;  exams.,  examinations;  norm.,  normal;  s.,  school; 
88.,  schools.  The  significance  of  the  other  abbreviations  will  be  readily 
apparent. 


Aachen,  palace  s.  at,  2,  4. 

Abbotsholme,  380. 

Abelard,  17  ff.,  378;  forerunner  of 

the  University  of  Paris,  18. 
Absence,  leave  of,  162-163. 
Academic    council,     function    of, 

127  n. 
Academy,  85  ff. 
Academy  inspector,  121,  375. 
Administration,  educational,  85  ff. ; 

political,    85;     school,     chap. 

V.,  passim. 
Admission     requirements,      lycee, 

161-162. 
Albert,  archbishop  of  York,  1. 
iEschylus,   study  of,    in    girls'  ss. 

325,  326. 
Agregation,    109,    116,    118,    119, 

346,    348,    349,    351   ff.,    365, 

367    ff.,    375    f.;     dip.,    375; 

exams.,  371-373;   in  girls'  ss., 

331-332,  333,  337,  340,  342; 

exam.,  342-343. 
Agregation,    orders   of,    351,    369, 

371. 
Agr6ge,    105,    108-109,    115,    332, 

336  f.,  347,  371  ff.,  376  f. 
Agreg6s,  prerogatives  of,  373. 
Aguesseau  (d'),  Instructions  a  mes 

enfants,  study  of  Spanish  and 

Italian  in,  214. 
Alcoholism,     instruction     against, 

291  n. 
Alcuin,  abbat  of  Tours,  5,  10-11; 

master    of    the    palace    s.    at 

Aachen,  2,  4;    meeting  with 

Charles  the  Great,  1 ;   quoted, 

5 ;      reforms    at    Tours,     1 1  ; 

scholasticus  at  York,  2,  4 


Alexander  IV.,  bulls  of,  25;  pro- 
tects the  theological  faculty, 
22. 

Algebra,  instruction  in,  methods, 
270-271.  See  also  Mathe- 
matics. 

Allowance,  pupil's,  184-185. 

Amalric,  archbishop,  11. 

American  authors,  neglected  in 
modern  language  reading, 
224. 

Appell,  M.,  dean  of  the  faculty  of 
science  at  the  University  of 
Paris,  resolutions  of,  321  n. 

Arabic,  in  entrance  exams,  for 
norm,  s.,  356  f . ;  instruction 
in,  among  ss.  in  Africa,  213. 

Archeology,  in  exam,  for  dip.  of 
higher  study,  366. 

Aristotle,  study  of,  in  arts  faculty, 
Ethics,  Metaphysics,  Natural 
philosophy,  24;  in  Jesuit  ss., 
257,  289.' 

Arithmetic,  in  early  ss.,  8;  in 
grammar  ss.,  28;  subject  of 
instruction  in  capitulary  of 
789,  9;  teachers  of,  brought 
from  Rome,  8. 

Arnauld,  study  plan,  238. 

Arretes,  defined,  90. 

Art,  history  of,  study  of,  at 
Sevres,  340. 

Arts  and  sciences,  parity  between, 
in  program  of  1902,  78. 

Arts  faculty,  22  ff.,  29. 

Arts,  seven  liberal,  studied  in 
palace  s.,  5. 

Ascham,  38. 

Assemblies,  national,  work  of,  59  ff . 


438 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


Assembly  hall,  absence  of,  155. 

Assembly,  legislative,  contrasted 
with  the  Convention,  61  ff. 

Association  for  girls'  secondary 
education,  314. 

Astronomy,  study  of,  in  Napo- 
leon's course,  260. 

Athletics,  158-159;  increased  in- 
terest in,  386;  lack  of  in- 
terest in,  308. 

Attendance,  school,  growth  of, 
69-70. 

Authors,  in  master's  exam.,  letters, 
363  n.,  364  n. 

Authors  read,  English,  220-223; 
French,  191-199;  German, 
221-223,  236;  Greek,  191- 
199;  Italian,  221-223;  Latin, 
191-199;  Russian,  221;  Span- 
ish, 221-223. 

Auxerre,  first  girls'  communal  col- 
lege at,  317;  lycee  at,  330- 
331. 

Baccalaureate,  71,  123-124,  126, 
138,  191,  262,  348,  363; 
courses  leading  to,  191;  es- 
tablished, 24-25;  exam, 
boards  for,  142,  144;  of 
"  special "  instruction,  78 ; 
open  to  girls,  321 ;  relative 
worth  of,  141-142;  required 
for  entrance  to  higher  ss., 
148;  requirements  for,  in 
1600,  45-46. 
Examinations,  139,  142-146; 
fees,  145;  oral,  144-145;  re- 
sults of,  146;  subjects  of, 
143;  worth,  145;  written, 
144. 

Bachelor's  degree,  75  f.,  125; 
exam.,  347  f.,  375.  See  also 
Baccalaureate. 

Basedow,  influence  of,  346. 

Bathing  facilities,  boys'  ss.,  157; 
girls'  ss.,  319-320. 

Bee,  a  center  of  learning,  17. 

Belugou,  Mile.,  directress  of  the 
norm.  s.  at  Sevres,  336. 

Benedictine  rule,  at  Tours,  10;  in 
monastic  ss.,  14. 

Bernardin  de  Saint-Pierre,  teacher 
in  norm.  s.  of  the  Convention, 
62-63. 


Berthollet,  teacher  in  norm.  s.  of 
the  Convention,  62. 

Besancon,  central  s..at,  66. 

Bibliography,  in  exam,  for  dip.  of 
higher  study,  366. 

Bifurcation,  in  lycee  course,  74  ff., 
262. 

Biology,  study  of,  in  1814,  261. 
See  also  Natural  history. 

Bishops'  petition,  829,  14. 

Blackboards,  154-155. 

Boethius,  Topics  in  arts  faculty, 
24;  version  of,  for  Aristotle, 
24. 

Books,  early,  13;  furnished  free 
to  boarders  and  to  half 
boarders,  164-166. 

Bordeaux,  early  municipal  s.  at,  2. 

Botany,  in  master's  exam.,  364. 
Study   of,    at   Sevres,    333;     in 
1814,  261.     See  also  Natural 
history. 

Bourges,  archbishop  of,  chairman 
of  reform  body  for  the  uni- 
versity, 43. 

Br6al,  M.,  quoted,  88-89. 

Brest,  girls'  lyc6e  at,  326. 

Brevet  616mentaire.  See  Diploma, 
elementary. 

Brevet  sup6rieur.  See  Diploma, 
higher. 

Britain,  early,  learning  in,  3. 

Budseus,  revives  the  study  of 
Greek.  34-35. 

Budget,  82-83,  96,  382-383. 

Buff  on,  lycee,  151. 

Buildings,  school,  151-158. 

Buisson,  F.,  quoted,  38;  Reper- 
toire des  ouvrages  pedago- 
giques  du  XV Ie  siecle,  37. 

Bureaus,  ministry  of  public  in- 
struction, 90-91. 

Bursar,  105,  108. 


Cahiers  de  1789,  modern  language 

instruction     demanded      by, 

216. 
"Caiman,"  361. 
Calculus,  study  of,  in  Napoleon's 

course,  260. 
Calendar,  school.    See  School  year. 
Campan,  Mme.,  on  the  education 

of  girls,  309-310,  311-312. 


INDEX 


439 


Capitulary,  Charles's  great,  6; 
text,  7-8. 

Capitulary  of  Theodulphus,  797,  9. 

Carlyle,  quoted,  60. 

Carnot,  lyc6e,  151. 

Cartesianism,  289. 

Cathedral,  grammar  ss.  of,  49-50. 

Cathedral  school  at  Paris,  17,  27  f . 

Cathedral  schools,  13,  16,  27. 

Censeur.     See  Censor. 

Censor,  70,  105,  107-108,  180; 
salary,  116-117. 

Centralization,  84-85 ;  educational, 
of  Napoleon,  67;  of  the  ss., 
effect  of,  101. 

Central  school  of  arts  and  manu- 
factures, 147,  148. 

Central  schools  of  the  Convention, 
63-66,  76,  188;  contrasted 
with  those  of  the  old  regime, 
65-66;  neglect  of  the  ver- 
nacular in,  207. 

Certificat  d'aptitude  p6dagogique. 
See  Certificate  of  teaching 
ability. 

Certificate,  leaving,  126;  of  com- 
petency in  elementary  classes, 
374;  in  modern  languages, 
373-374;  of  secondary  study 
in  girls'  ss.,  320;  of  teaching 
ability,  115. 

Certificates,  drawing  teachers, 
375 ;  gymnastic  teachers, 
375;  teaching,  109;  for  girls' 
secondary  ss.,  339-340. 

Certification  of  teachers,  29. 

Chancellor  of  the  cathedral,  Paris, 
21,  25,  27;  of  Sainte-Gene- 
vieve,  25. 

Chantre,  grand.     See  Precentor. 

Chaplain,  in  lycees,  70. 

Chaptal,  college,  151. 

Characteristics,  French  and  Anglo- 
Saxon,  380. 

Charlemagne,  lycee,  150,  155. 

Charles  the  Bald,  11. 

Charles  the  Great,  meets  Alcuin, 
1;  his  learning,  2;  issues  his 
great  capitulary,  787,  6. 

Charles  Martel,  distributes  the 
monasteries,  2. 

Charles  VII.,  43. 

Charles  VIII.,  brings  the  Renais- 
sance to  France,  32. 


Chaumi6,  M.,  quoted,  387. 

Chemistry,  chap.  XII.,  passim; 
laboratory  work,  285-286. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
343,  372 ;  for  master's  degree, 
364;  for  norm,  s.,  357  f.;  for 
Sevres  334 
Study  of,  136;  at  Sevres,  333; 
in  central  ss.,  64;  in  1814, 
261;  in  girls'  ss.,  314;  in 
Napoleon's  course,  260. 

Chronology,  study  of,  in  lycees, 
68. 

Church  and  state,  69,  73-74,  378. 

Church  attendance,  opportunity 
for,  177. 

Church  control  of  girls'  education, 
309. 

Cicero,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44;  neg- 
lected in  Middle  Ages,  34. 

Classicism,  loses  ground,  75;  re- 
volt against,  259. 

Classics,  diversity  of  program, 
200-201 ;  efforts  to  save,  190- 
191;  evolution  of,  123-125; 
in  master's  exam.,  363;  in- 
struction in,  chap.  IX.,  pas- 
sim; method  of  study,  200- 
206;  reform  of,  78-79;  time 
allowance  for,  199-200.  See 
also  Greek,  Latin. 
Study  of,  in  program  of  1902, 
191-206. 

Class  names,  modification  of,  86. 

Class  room,  appearance  and  equip- 
ment, 154  ff. 

Clement  of  Ireland,  Alcuin's  suc- 
cessor, 2,  12. 

Clermont,  College  of,  41  ff.,  49,  72. 

Clubs,  modern  language,  229-230. 

Cluny  normal  school,  77,  115. 

Coat  rooms,  absence  of,  155. 

College,  27;  function  of,  89;  re- 
lation to  lycee,  152. 

College  de  France.  See  College  of 
France. 

College  d'Harcourt,  27. 

College  of  France,  33,  38,  346. 

College  royal.  See  College  of 
France. 

Colleges  and  lycees,  comparison, 
103-104,  114. 

Colleges,    basis    of    education    in, 


440 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


70;  early,  26;  for  girls,  81, 
315  ff.;  inspection  of,  29; 
reassume  the  name  lycees, 
74;  of  the  university  in  1594, 
42-43;  in  1600,  App.  C; 
during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 50-51;  teaching  staff, 
114-115. 

Comite  consultatif.  See  Com- 
mittee, consulting. 

Comite  du  contentieux.  See  Com- 
mittee on  litigation. 

Commerce,  theory  of,  instruction 
in,  216. 

Committee,  consulting,  94;  of 
public  instruction,  59  ff. 

Committee  on  litigation,  90. 

Comparative  grammar,  in  exam, 
for  dip.  of  higher  study,  366. 

Compayre,  M.,  quoted,  22,  385. 

Composition,  French,  209-210. 

"Compositions,"  172.  See  also 
Examinations. 

Concordat,  established,  68-69 ; 
dissolution  of,  300. 

Concours  general,  149. 

Condorcet,  61,  63,  64;  quoted,  259. 

Condorcet,  lyc6e,  150,  155. 

Conferences,  teachers',  171. 

Conseil  superieur  de  l'instruc- 
tion  publique.  See  Council, 
superior. 

Constantinople,  fall  of,  influence 
upon  the  Renaissance,  31. 

Control,  civil,  of  education,  43. 

Convention,  57  ff.,  76. 

Corbeil,  s.  of  Abelard  at,  17. 

Corbie,  monastic  s.  at,  14. 

Cosmography,  in  agregation  exam., 
343. 
Study  of,  262. 

Coudren,  P.  de,  influence  _  on 
modern  language  instruction, 
213-214. 

Coulanges,  Fustel  de,  director  of 
the  norm,  s.,  quoted,  353. 

Council,  academic,  97-99,  120  n., 
121;  composition,  97-98; 
powers  and  duties,  98-99. 

Council,  advisory.  See  Council, 
academic;  Council,  superior. 

Council,  superior,  91-94,  120  n., 
121;  composition,  92-93; 
powers  and  duties,  93-94. 


Cours  complementaires,  girls',  82. 

Courses  of  study,  in  arts  faculty, 
23-24;  in  lycee,  190-191;  in 
secondary  program,  138-140; 
secondary  purpose  of,  140. 
See  also  Curriculum;  Form. 

Coustel,  Pierre,  teacher  at  Port- 
Royal,  238-239. 

Croiset,  M.,  quoted,  on  ethical  in- 
struction, 299. 

Curriculum,  grammar  ss.,  28; 
parish  ss.,  28;  University  of 
Paris,  1215,  23-24;  university 
colleges,  1600,  390;  university 
colleges,  176-,  399-400.  See 
also  Courses  of  study;  Form. 

Cycles,  in  secondary  course,  79, 
126  ff . ;  significance  of,  128. 

Danton,  61. 

Daubenton,  teacher  in  norm.  s.  of 
the  Convention,  62. 

Daunou,  educational  plan  of,  63- 
64;  provides  for  modern  lan- 
guage instruction,  216. 

Day  school,  failure  of,  30. 

Decorations,  121-122,  172. 

Decree  of  1902,  125  ff. 

D6crets,  defined,  90. 

Deficits  in  s.  budgets,  141. 

Degree,  45-46;  fees,  375-376. 
See  also  Baccalaureate;  Li- 
cence; Master's  degree. 

Degree,  baccalaureate,  established, 
24-25;  requirements  for,  24. 
See  also  Baccalaureate. 

Degree,  doctor's,  26. 

Degree,  master's,  115. 

Demeny,  M.,  system  of  gymnas- 
tics, 307. 

Demolins,  M.,  founder  of  Ecole 
des  Roches,  379-380,  383. 

Demosthenes,  interpreted  in 
French,  40;  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Descartes,  17;  Discours  sur  la 
methode,  289;  in  the  ss.  of 
the  Port-Royalists,  47. 

Determinance,  early  name  for 
baccalaureate,  24. 

Dialectic,  study  of,  in  arts  faculty, 
23;  in  early  ss.,  21. 

Dictation  work,  in  elementary 
classes,  208. 


INDEX 


441 


Dies  irae,  16. 

Dijon,  lycee  at,  study  of  Greek, 
190. 

Diploma,  agr6gation,  375;  ele- 
mentary, 316;  higher,  115, 
331;  in  girls'  ss.,  contrasted 
with  the  baccalaureate,  320, 
321,  and  n.;  of  higher  study, 
358,  361,  365-366;  in  philos- 
ophy, 366,  App.  L. 

Diplomacy,  in  exam,  for  dip.  of 
higher  study,  366. 

Diplomas,  teaching,  in  girls'  ss., 
316,  and  n. 

Diplome  d'6tudes  supeYieures.  See 
Diploma  of  higher  study. 

Diplome  de  fin  d'£tudes  sec- 
ondares. See  Diploma  in 
girls'  ss. 

Direct  method,  in  modern  lan- 
guage teaching,  an  apprecia- 
tion, 230-232;  typical  recita- 
tion, 232-233;  results,  234- 
236;  weakness  in,  225-226. 

Director  of  secondary  education, 
91. 

Directory,  efforts  to  encourage  s. 
attendance,  65. 

Disbarment  of  teachers,  121. 

Discipline,  29,  107-108,  168-173; 
at  norm,  s.,  360-361 ;  in  1810, 
349. 

Disputation,  scholastic,  6,  37. 

Distinctions,  121-122. 

Doctor's  degree,  26. 

Dolet,  Fjtienne,  quoted,  33. 

Domestic  economy,  study  of,  in 
girls'  ss.,  314,  315. 

Donatus,  De  barbarismo,  in  arts 
faculty,  24. 

Dormitories,  153,  159-160. 

Drago,  15. 

Drawing,  certificates  for  teaching, 
375;  course  hours,  217;  in- 
struction in,  216,  302-306; 
program,  303-305 ;  replaces 
Greek,  191. 
Study  of,  at  Sevres,  333;  in 
central  ss.,  64;  in  girls'  ss., 
313,  315;  teachers,  109. 

Dumonstier,  rector  of  the  uni- 
versity, suggested  the  train- 
ing of  teachers,  345. 

Durkheim,   M.,   professor  of  edu- 


cation, University  of  Paris, 
364. 

Duruy,  V.,  minister  of  public  in- 
struction, 75,  80,  94,  95,  262; 
on  girls'  education,  80,  314. 

Dutil,  M.,  quoted,  defects  in  his- 
tory and  geography  programs, 
254. 

E  alb  at,  of  Tours,  10. 

Eanbald,  archbishop  of  York,  1. 

Ecolan,  Mile.,  directress  of  lycee 
at  Auxerre,  330. 

Ecole  des  Roches,  379-381. 

Ecole  normale.  See  Normal  school, 
higher. 

Ecole  poly  technique,  346. 

^Iconome.     See  Bursar. 

^couen,  girls'  s.  at,  79,  310. 

Education,  classical  v.  scientific, 
124-125;  in  agr^gation  exam., 
342,  343;  in  exam,  for  cer- 
tificate, 374 ;  professional 
study  of,  364-365,  368-369; 
three  degrees  of,  86  ff. 

Education,  history  of,  in  France, 
1-83. 

Educational  thought,  fecundity 
of,  in  sixteenth  century,  37-38. 

Einhard,  biographer  of  Charles  the 
Great,  4. 

Elective  courses,  190-191. 

Elective  system,  limited,  385. 

Elementary  classes,  methods  in, 
208. 

Elocution,  study  of,  at  Sevres, 
333. 

£mile,  53-54,  57. 

English  language,  in  entrance 
exam.,  for  norm,  s.,  356  f. ; 
for  Sevres,  334;  in  exam,  for 
certificate,  374.  See  also 
Modern  languages. 
Study  of,  135;  at  Sevres,  333, 
334,  337;  in  girls'  ss.,  315, 
326,  and  n. 

Epigraphy,   in  exam,   for  dip.   of 
>  higher  study,  366. 

Episcopal  schools,  13,  29. 

Erasmus,  34,  35  n.,  37,  38;  efforts 
to  reform  classical  instruc- 
tion, 206-207. 

Esperanto,  elective  in  certain  ss. 
in  the  academy  of  Dijon,  228. 


442 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


Esthetics,  study  of  (included  under 
philosophy,  q.  v.),  137. 

Estienne,  Henri,  Similarity  be- 
tween the  French  and  the 
Greek  language,  40. 

Estouteville,  Cardinal  d',  reform 
of,  29,  43. 

Ethical  tendency  in  instruction, 
210. 

Ethics,  in  agregation  exam.,  342, 
343;  in  entrance  exam,  for 
Sevres,  333-334. 
Study  of  (included  under  phi- 
losophy, q.  v.),  137,  289  ff.; 
at  Sevres,  333-334;  in  peda- 
gogies, 56.     See  also  Morale. 

Euclid,    in    university    curriculum 
of  1600,  45. 
Study  of,  in  Jesuit  ss.,  258. 

Euripides,  study  of,  in  girls'  ss., 
325. 

Examinations,  admission  to  the 
norm,  s.,  355-358;  agrega- 
tion, 342-343,  371-373;  cer- 
tificates of  competency  for 
elementary  classes,  374;  cer- 
tificates of  competency  for 
modern  languages,  373-374 ; 
entrance  to  Sevres,  333-335; 
importance  of,  343;  in  girls' 
ss.,  320-321;  master's  de- 
gree, 362;  promotion,  140- 
141;  quarterly,  172;  teach- 
ing certificate  in  girls'  sec- 
ondary ss.,  339-340,  App.  K. 
See  also  Baccalaureate  ex- 
aminations. 

Excursions,  school,  178. 

Exercise,  absence  of,  among  French 
s.  boys,  138. 

Experiments.  See  Laboratory 
work. 

Explication  des  textes.  See  Trans- 
lations, word-for-word. 

Extension  classes,  recommended 
by  Minister  Duruy,  80. 

Eyesight,  defective,  156. 

Faculties  of  early  university,  22. 
Faculty  of  arts,  22  ff.;  of  theology, 

22. 
Falloux  law,  reactionary,  314,  351. 
Fees,    166-168;    degree,   375-376; 

extra,    168;     for    norm,    stu- 


dents, 347;  in  girls'  ss.,  80; 
in  university  of  1600,  45;  re- 
mission, in  higher  institu- 
tions, 120;  suggested  aboli- 
tion, 39.     See  also  Tuition. 

Felbiger,  influence  of,  346. 

Fenelon,  lyc6e,  at  Lille,  317,  319. 

Ferrieres,  monastic  s.  at,  14. 

Fille  ainee  du  roi  de  France,  la, 
34  n. 

Fleury,  Abbe,  quoted,  criticizing 
too  early  study  of  arithmetic, 
257,  and  n. 

Football,  158-159,  178. 

Foreign  literatures,  program  for 
study,  in  girls'  ss.,  326. 

Form,  Elementary  classes:  draw- 
ing, 303;  French,  208;  geog- 
raphy, 244,  245;  history,  244, 
245;  mathematics,  262-263; 
modern  languages,  217-218; 
science,  262-263. 
Sixth:  drawing,  303;  French, 
192-193;  geography,  245- 
246;  history,  245;  Latin, 
192 ;  mathematics,  264 ; 
modern  languages,  219-220; 
science,  264. 
Fifth :  drawing,  303 ;  French,  193- 
194 ;  geography,  246 ;  history, 
246;  Latin,  193;  mathemat- 
ics, 264;  modern  languages, 
219-220;  science,  264. 
Fourth:  drawing,  303;  English, 
220-221;  French,  195;  geog- 
raphy, 246;  German,  221; 
Greek,  194;  history,  246; 
Italian,  221;  Latin,  194; 
mathematics,  265 ;  morale, 
288;  Russian,  221;  science, 
265-266;  Spanish,  221. 
Third :  book-keeping,  267  ; 
drawing,  304;  English,  220- 
221;  French,  196;  geog- 
raphy, 247;  German,  221; 
Greek,  196;  history,  247; 
Italian,  221;  Latin,  195;  law, 
300-301;  mathematics,  266; 
morale,  299;  Russian,  221; 
science,  266-267 ;  Spanish, 
221. 
Second:  drawing,  304;  English, 
222;  French,  197-198;  geog- 
raphy,   250;     German,    222; 


INDEX 


443 


Greek,  197;  history,  249-250 
Italian,     222;      Latin,      196- 
197;    mathematics,   273-274 
science,  273-274 ;  Spanish,  222 
First:    drawing,   305;    English 
222;   French,  198-199;    geog- 
raphy,   251;     German,    222- 
223;     Greek,     198;     history, 
250-251;  Italian,  223;  Latin, 
198;    mathematics,   274-275; 
science,     274-275;      Spanish, 
223. 
Philosophy:        English,       223; 
geography,  252 ;  German,  236 ; 
Greek,  199;  history,  251-252; 
Italian,     223;      Latin,     199; 
mathematics,    275-276;     phi- 
losophy,    290-292 ;      science, 
276-277;  Spanish,  223. 
Mathematics :       drawing,      305 ; 
English,  223 ;  geography,  252 ; 
German,   236;    history,   251- 
252;     Italian,    223;     mathe- 
matics,     278-279 ;       science, 
279-280;  Spanish,  223. 
Forms,   graduate,  no  official  pro- 
gram for,   199;    preparatory, 
nature  of  work,  149;    special 
preparatory,  147-148. 
Fortoul,  minister,  260,  262. 
Fouarre,  rue  de,  seat  of  the  early 

university,  25,  27. 
Francis  I.,  founder  of  the  College 

of  France,  33,  34,  35. 
Francke,  influence  of,  346. 
Frankfort,  seat  of  the  palace  s.,  4. 
Freehand  drawing.     See  Drawing. 
French      language,      chap.      IX., 
passim. 
Authors  read,  191-199. 
Composition,     method     of     in- 
struction, 209-210. 
Course  hours,  216. 
Development,  206-208. 
Examination,     for     agrSgation, 
371;    for  certificate,  374;    for 
dip.  of  higher  study,  366;   for 
entrance  to  norm,  s.,  356  f. 
Grammar.     See  Grammar. 
Literature,  instruction  in,  210- 

212. 
Study   of,    at   Sevres,    333;     in 
early  lyc6es,  66,  68,  208;    in 
elementary    classes,    208;     in 


new  program,    137;    in   Rol- 
lin's  plan,  56;    in  ss.  of  the 
Oratorians,  47-48;    in  ss.  of 
the  Port-Royalists,  47. 
Time  allotment,  191-199. 
Fulda,  12. 

Games,  182-183.  See  also  Athletics. 

Gaul,  learning  in,  2. 

General  competition,  384. 

Geography  and  history,  chap.  XL; 
agregation  in,  371;  course 
hours  in,  217;  program,  244- 
247,  249-250. 

Geography  examination,  for  agre- 
gation, 343,  372;  for  certifi- 
cate, 374;  for  dip.  of  higher 
study,  366;  for  master's  de- 
gree, 363;  for  Sevres,  333; 
specimen  question  in,  254  n. 
Instruction,  assistant  suggested 
for,  256;  development,  241- 
242;  in  lower  grades,  244; 
methods  of,  249;  weakness 
in,  253-256. 
Study  of,   136-137;    at  Sevres, 

333,  334,  340;  in  girls'  ss., 
313,  314,  326-327;  in  early 
lycSes,  66,  68,  240;  in  ss.  of 
the  Oratorians,  48. 

Geology,  in  master's  exam.,  264. 

See     also     Natural     history; 

Science. 
Geometry,   in   Napoleon's  course, 

260.    See  also  Mathematics. 
German    language,    in    exam,    for 

certificate,  374;    for  entrance 

to  norm,  s.,  356  f . ;  to  Sevres, 

334.  See  also  Modern  lan- 
guages. 

Study  of,  135;  at  Sevres,  333, 
334,  337;  in  girls'  ss.,  315, 
326,  and  n. 

Gerson,  28. 

Girls,  education  of,  79  ff.,  chap. 
XIV.;  during  eighteenth  cen- 
tury, 309-310;  provided  for, 
1880,  309 ;  secondary  courses, 
314-315. 

Girls'  schools,  administration  of, 
compared  with  that  of  boys', 
320;  atmosphere,  330-331; 
bathing  facilities  in,  319- 
320 ;  boarding  departments  in 


444 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


connection  with,  317;  char- 
acter of  the  population,  329- 
330;  characteristics  of  the 
program  in,  325;  decreased 
interest  in,  313-314;  di- 
plomas, 320-321;  elementary- 
classes  in,  322;  equipment, 
319-320;  established  by  the 
State,  316;  fees,  317;  growth 
of,  317-319;  length  of  course, 
320;  life  at,  311-312;  objec- 
tions to  establishment  of, 
316-317;  private,  312-316; 
program  compared  with  that 
in  the  boys',  322-323;  sub- 
jects of  instruction  in,  313, 
322-324;  teaching  staff,  331- 
332,  336-337. 
Grammar,  agregation  in,  346,  351, 
371 ;  elementary  instruction 
in,  28;  exam,  for  agregation, 
343,  371;  exam,  for  entrance 
to  Sevres,  333;  method  of 
teaching,  in  twelfth  century, 
19. 

Study  of,  in  arts  faculty,  23; 
in  capitulary  of  789,  9;  in 
central  ss.,  64;  in  elementary 
classes,  208;  in  girls'  ss.,  313, 
315;  in  grammar  ss.  of  the 
cathedral,  49-50;  in  parish 
ss.,  28;  in  pedagogies,  56; 
in  ss.  of  the  Oratorians,  48; 
at  Sevres,  340. 
"Grammar"  schools,  Paris,  27. 
Grand  master  of   the   university, 

67,  71. 
Gratuity  of  instruction,  53. 
Gr6ard,  M.,  vice-rector  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  369;   quoted, 
322. 
Greek    language,    chap.  IX.,  pas- 
sim. 

Authors  read,  191-199. 

Composition,  exercise  in,  206. 

Course  hours,  216. 

Elective,  136. 

Examination,  for  agregation, 
371 ;  for  dip.  of  higher  study, 
366;  for  entrance  to  norm. 
s.,  356  f. 

Literature,  program  for  study,  in 
girls'  ss.,  326. 

Study  of,  68,  79,  123,  126,  127, 


191;  at  College  of  France,  34; 
in  Jesuit  curriculum,  41;  in 
new  program,  137;  in  Rol- 
lin's  plan,  56;  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44; 
method  of  instruction,  206; 
passing  of,  189-190;  resus- 
citated by  the  Renaissance, 
188. 
Time  allotment,  191-199. 

Gregory  of  Tifernus,  opened  s.  at 
Paris,  34. 

Guilds,  rise  of,  16. 

Guillaume  de  Conches,  a  twelfth 
century  writer,  17. 

Guizot,  quoted,  on  Alcuin,  5; 
work  of,  71-72,  77. 

Guyton  de  Morveau,  on  modern 
language  instruction,  215. 

Gymnasium,  equipment,  157-158; 
lycee  Janson-de-Sailly,  153. 

Gymnasium,  German,  379. 

Gymnastics,  157-158;  certificate 
for  teaching,  375;  instruction 
in,  306-308;  Swedish,  307; 
recruitment  of  teachers,  307. 


Handball,  182.    See  also  Games. 

Harcourt,  College  d',  150. 

Head  master,  105-107;  salary, 
116-117. 

Hebrew,  study  of,  at  College  of 
France,  34. 

Henri  IV.,  lycee,  150,  155. 

Henry  IV.  and  the  Jesuits,  42; 
great  reform  of,  39. 

Hersan,  introduces  study  of  the 
vernacular,  207. 

Hesiod,  in  university  curriculum 
of  1600,  44. 

Higher  education,  contrasted  with 
secondary,  87. 

Higher  normal  school.  See  Normal 
school. 

Hincmar,  head  of  s.  at  Rheims, 
13. 

History,  agregation,  351;  catho- 
licity of  the  course,  242-243; 
length  of  course,  71 ;  local, 
urged  by  Rolland,  239-240; 
neglected  by  the  Ratio  stu- 
diorum,  237;  Romme's  classi- 
fication,   240;     scope    of   the 


INDEX 


445 


course,  253;  teaching  assist- 
ant suggested  for,  256. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
342,  343,  372;  for  certificate, 
374;  for  dip.  of  higher  study, 
366;  for  master's  degree, 
363;  for  norm,  s.,  356  f.;  for 
Sevres,  333. 
Instruction,  before  the  Revolu- 
tion, 237-239;  characteristics 
of  the  first  cycle,  247;  char- 
acteristics of  the  three  periods, 
252-253 ;  development  of, 
237-244;  in  lower  grades, 
244;  methods,  248-249; 
scope  of  course,  243;  use  of 
biographical  stories,  243. 
Study  of,  136-137;  central  SB., 
64,  240;  girls'  ss.,  313,  314, 
327-328;  lycees,  66,  68 ;  peda- 
gogies, 56;  Rollin's  plan,  55- 
56;  ss.  of  the  Oratorians,  48; 
at  Port-Royal,  238 ;  at  Sevres, 
333,  334,  340;  Traite  des 
etudes,  52. 

History  and  geography,  chap.  XI.; 
agregation  in,  371;  course 
hours,  217;  instruction  in, 
concentric  circle  plan,  243; 
program,  244-247,  249-252. 

Holidays,  177-179;  legal,  178; 
secular,  170.  See  also  Vaca- 
tions. 

Home  life,  French,  110-111. 

Homer,  neglected  in  Middle  Ages, 
34. 
Study  of,  in  university  curric- 
ulum of  1600,  44. 

Home  work,  amount  of,  269-270. 

Hours  for  school  work,  maximum 
number,  183. 

Humanism,  reaction  against,  40; 
struggle  with  realism,  123- 
124. 

Hydrography,  chair  of,  258. 

Hygiene,  infant,  lectures  on,  97; 
in  lyc6e  course,  134. 
Study  of,  at  Sevres,  333. 

Illiteracy,  83. 

Industrial  development  abroad, 
influence  of,  76-77. 

Infant  class,  subjects  of  instruc- 
tion, 134. 


Infirmary,  159. 

Innocent  III.,  bulls  of,  22. 

Inspection,  committee  of,  29;    of 

colleges,   46;     of   private  ss., 

73. 
Inspectors,      academy,      99-101 ; 

general,  67,  94,  95;    women, 

for  girls'  ss.,  313. 
Institutes,  of  Condorcet,  259. 
"Institutions"    (boarding    ss.    for 

girls),  312,  313. 
Instruction,    ethical   tendency   in, 

210;    free,  9;    girls'  ss.,  sub- 
jects   of,    313;     standard    of, 

137;    subjects   of,   in   lycees, 

see  Form. 
Instructions,  defined,  90. 
Ireland,  early,  learning  in,  3. 
Isocrates,  in  university  curriculum 

of  1600,  44. 
Italian     language,     in     entrance 

exam,    for   norm,    s.,    356  f . ; 

in  girls'  ss.,  326-327.    See  also 

Modern  languages. 

Janson-de-Sailly,  lyc6e,  151, 
152-155,  159,  160  n. 

Jesuits,  34,  46,  57;  conservatism, 
48-49;  expulsion,  152,  188, 
345;  fall,  54-55;  organiza- 
tion of  the  society,  40;  rivals 
of  the  Oratorians,  207;  suc- 
cess, 42;  suppression  of  the 
order,  54-55. 

Jesuit  schools,  absence  of  science 
work  in  lower  classes,  257; 
compared  with  the  university 
colleges,  50-51.  See  also  Cler- 
mont, College  of;  Louis-le- 
Grand,  lyc6e. 

Jesus,  Society  of.     See  Jesuits. 

John  of  Salisbury,  pupil  of  Abe- 
lard,  19,  21. 

John  the  Deaf,  15. 

Juilly,  s.  of  the  Oratorians,  238. 

July  Monarchy,  71;  reorganizes 
the  norm,  s.,  350. 

Khabyl,  instruction  in,  among  ss. 
in  Africa,  213. 

Laboratory,  assistants,  109 ; 
equipment,  284-285;  work, 
136. 


446 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


La  Chalotais,  quoted,  214;  on 
modern  language  instruction, 
215. 

Lagrange,  teacher  in  norm.  s.  of 
the  Convention,  62-63. 

Lakanal,  lycee,  151,  152. 

Lakanal,  provides  for  modern  lan- 
guage instruction,  216;  re- 
port of,  64. 

Lancelot,  Italian  and  Spanish 
method  of,  214. 

Langlois,  Ch.  V.,  quoted,  char- 
acterization of  geography 
exam.,  254  n. ;  on  the  training 
of  teachers,  377. 

Languages,  ancient,  study  of,  in 
central  ss.,  64.  See  also  Greek ; 
Latin. 

Languages,  modern,  71;  study  of, 
in  central  ss.,  64;  teachers  of. 
109.  See  also  Esperanto; 
Modern  languages;  and  iindffr 
the  individual  national  names. 

Laon,  a  center  of  learning,  17. 

Laplace,  teacher  in  norm.  s.  of  the 
Convention,  62-63. 

La  Rochelle,  76. 

Latin  language,  chap.  IX.,  passim. 
As  international  language,  189  n. 
Authors  read,  191-199. 
Composition,  203. 
Course  hours,  216. 
Culture  study,  123. 
Examination,     for     agregation, 
371;   for  dip.  of  higher  study, 
366;      for     master's     degree, 
363;  for  norm,  s.,  356  f. 
Literature,    program    of    study, 

in  girls'  ss.,  326. 
Optional  in  girls'  ss.,  81,  325. 
Study  of,  79,  126,  127;  at  Col- 
lege of  France,  34 ;  evolution, 
187-189;  in  arts  faculty,  23; 
in  Jesuit  curriculum,  41;  in 
lycees,  66,  68;  in  Napoleon's 
scheme,  188;  in  new  program, 
137;  in  palace  s.,  5;  in  peda- 
gogies, 56;  in  program  of 
1809,  208;  in  Rollin's  plan, 
56;  in  ss.  of  the  Oratorians, 
48;  in  ss.  of  the  Port-Royal- 
ists, 47;  in  Traite  des  etudes, 
52;  in  university  curriculum 
of  1600,  43-44;   method,  203- 


205;  not  found  in  girls'  ss., 
321,  and  n. ;  place  of  memory 
work  in,  201-202;  practical 
value  of,  189;  primacy  of, 
188  n.,  see  also  App.  F; 
program  by  forms,  192-199; 
pronunciation  in,  202-203. 
Time  allotment,  191-199. 

Latran,  Council  of,  20-21. 

Lavisse,  M.,  quoted,  344. 

Law,     common,     instruction     in, 
300-301. 
Study  of,  at  Sevres,  333,  340. 

Leadership,  training  for,  absence, 
386. 

League,  wars  of  the,  42. 

Legion  of  Honor,  Ecouen  founded 
for  the  relatives  of  members, 
310. 

Legislation,    study   of,   in   central 

A*     ss.,  64. 

Lejeune,  Mile.,  quoted,  332-333. 

Lepelletier,  61,  64. 

Le  Ragois,  Instruction  sur  Vhis- 
toire  de  France  et  romaine, 
237  n. 

Lessons,  private,  168. 

Letters,  agregation  in,  351,  371. 

Levasseur,  M.,  head  of  the  Asso- 
ciation for  girls'  secondary 
education,  314. 

Lewis  the  Pious,  12,  14. 

Liard,  M.,  vice-rector  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Paris,  369. 

Library,  norm,  s.,  361 ;  St.  Riquier, 
14;  York,  11. 

Licence,  a  teaching  degree,  25, 
45-46. 

License  for  teaching,  early,  20-21. 

Licentiate,  26.  See  also  Master's 
degree. 

Lighting  of  schools,  154,  156. 

Literature,  exam,  for  agregation, 
343;  exam,  for  Sevres,  333; 
foreign  study  of,  in  girls'  ss., 
325;  French,  210-212. 
Study  of,  at  Sevres,  333,  334, 
340;  in  central  ss.,  64;  in 
girls'  ss.,  314. 

Logic,  study  of,  289  ff.  (included 
under  philosophy,  q.  v.),  137; 
in  arts  faculty,  28;*  in  Jesuit 
ss.,  257. 

Lois,  defined,  90. 


INDEX 


447 


Louis-le-Grand,  college,  54-55, 
350;  lyc6e,  49,  150,  156. 

Louis  XIV.,  establishes  girls'  s. 
at  Saint-Cyr,  310;  prescrip- 
tions in  s.  studies,  50. 

Louis  XV.,  attempted  assassina- 
tion of,  54. 

Louis  XVIII.,  70. 

Louis  Philippe,  72. 

Loyola,  founder  of  the  Jesuits,  40, 
41  ff.,  49;  influence  of,  142. 

Luther,  38 ;  influence  upon  human- 
ism, 32. 

Lycees,  27,  66  ff. ;  curriculum,  68 ; 
discipline  in,  69;  function, 
89;  girls',  81,  315  ff.;  Napo- 
leonic, program,  207-208;  or- 
ganization, 66;  Paris,  as  pre- 
paratory ss.,  148. 

Lycees  and  colleges,  comparison, 
103-104,  114;  relation  be- 
tween, 152. 

Lyon,  lycee  at,  151. 

Maintenon,  Madame  de,  direc- 
tress of  the  s.  at  Saint-Cyr, 
310. 

Maneuvrier,  M.,  quoted,  187. 

Manuel  d'exercices  gymnastiques 
et  de  jeux  scolaires,  306. 

Marking  system,  107-108,  169- 
171. 

Marseille,  lycee  at,  151. 

Master's  degree,  46-47,  125,  361- 
364,  373;  commission  for 
granting,  25;  examination, 
347,  348,  349-350,  352,  353, 
362;  prerequisites,  25-26. 

Master's  diploma,  1511,  copy, 
App.  A. 

Mathematics,  chap.  XII.,  passim; 
agregation,  351,  371;  chairs 
of,  258;  classes,  advanced, 
260;  course,  method  and 
scope  of,  281-283. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
343;  for  certificate,  374;  for 
master's  degree,  363,  364; 
for  norm,  s.,  356  ff . ;  for 
Sevres  334 
Study  of,  136,  262;  at  Sevres, 
333 ;  comparative  programs 
in  divisions  A  and  B,  267- 
268;     development,    257-262; 


in  arts  faculty,  23;  in  cen- 
tral ss.,  64;  in  1814,  261; 
in  girls'  ss.,  313,  314,  327;  in 
higher  forms,  280-281;  in 
Jesuit  ss.,  257;  in  lycees,  66; 
in  ss.  of  the  Oratorians,  48; 
in  special  preparatory  forms, 
147-148;  methods,  268-271. 
Teachers,  special,  in  Rollin's 
plan,  56. 

Mathematiques  transcendantes, 
260. 

Mayence,  seat  of  the  palace  s.,  4. 

Mazarin,  College  of,  51. 

Meals,  179,  182,  183.  See  also 
Menu. 

Mechanical  drawing.  See  Draw- 
ing. 

Melanchthon,  38. 

Melun,  s.  of  Abelard  at,  17. 

Memory  work,  emphasis  upon, 
201-202. 

Menu,  182,  App.  J. 

Metaphysics,  study  of,  289  ff. 
(included  under  philosophy, 
q.  v.),  137;  in  Jesuit  ss.,  257. 

Michelet,  lycee,  151,  152. 

Military  instruction,  in  norm,  s., 
359. 

Military  service,  359. 

Mineralogy,  in  Napoleon's  course, 
260;  in  master's  exam.,  364., 
Study  of,  in  1814,  261. 

Minister  of  commerce  and  industry, 
381. 

Minister  of  public  instruction, 
creation  of  office,  71;  de- 
partmental organization  of 
office,  89  ff . ;  powers  and 
duties,  94-95,  98,  104,  127  n. 

Missi  dominici,  4. 

Modern  languages,  chap.  X. ;  agre^ 
gation,  371;  significance  of 
term,  213;  in  girls'  ss.,  326- 
327. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
842,  372;  for  dip.  of  higher 
study,  366;  for  master's  de- 
gree, 363 ;  for  norm,  s.,  356  ff . ; 
for  Sevres,  334. 
Instruction,  advanced  work  in, 
233-234;  in  lower  classes, 
217-218;  in  upper  forms, 
218;    neglect  of,  m  France  in 


448 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


1764,  215;  place  of,  in  Guy- 
ton  de  Morveau's  educational 
scheme,  215;  provided  for  by 
various  Revolutionary  bills, 
216. 
Methods  of  teaching,  225-236; 
clubs,  229-230;  foreign  as- 
sistants, 228-229;  foreign 
correspondents,  228,  and  n.; 
illustrative  material,  227-228. 
Study  of,  127,  135-136;  at 
norm,  s.,  351;  attempts  to 
abolish,  217;  compulsory, 
temporarily  in  1829,  216;  de- 
velopment, 213-218;  in  girls' 
ss.,  313 ;  in  lower  forms,  126  n. ; 
optional,  1830,  216;  pro- 
grams, 219-223;  replaces 
Greek,  191;  relative  growth 
of  Italian  and  Spanish,  235- 
236.  See  also  Arabic,  English, 
Esperanto,  German,  Italian, 
Khabyl,  Russian,  and  Spanish. 

"Modern"  secondary  instruction, 
76 ;  course,  262. 

Monastic  ss.,  13,  16,  27,  29. 

Money,  pocket,  185. 

Monge,  teacher  in  norm.  s.  of  the 
Convention,  62. 

Monitors,  28-29. 

Montaigne,  37,  38. 

Montaigne,  lycee,  27,  150. 

Montesquieu,  quoted,  59. 

Montpellier,  first  girls'  s.  at,  317. 

Moral  and  religious  instruction,  in 
girls'  ss.,  313. 

Morale,  instruction  in,  298-300. 

Music,  in  parish  ss.,  28. 
Study  of,  in  girls'  ss.,  313. 

Musical  notation,  subject  of  in- 
struction in  capitulary  of 
789,  9. 

Mythology,  study  of,  in  lyc6es,  68. 


Nancy,  royal  college  at,  76. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  40. 

Napoleon,  centralization  under, 
84 ;  founds  girls'  s.  at  Ecouen, 
310-311;  founds  norm,  s., 
63,  346;  indebted  to  Rollin, 
56;  neglects  study  of  the 
vernacular,  207-208 ;  puts 
emphasis     upon     Latin     and 


mathematics,     67 ;      re-estab- 
lishes secondary  ss.,  188. 

Narbonne,  College  of,  45. 

Nations,  of  early  university,  22. 

Natural  history,  chair  of,  258; 
collections,  272-273 ;  in  Napo- 
leon's course,  260;  museum, 
346. 
Examination,  for  agregation,. 
343;  for  certificate,  374;  foi 
norm,  s.,  357;  for  Sevres, 
334. 
Study  of,  262;  at  Sevres,  333; 
in  central  ss.,  64;  in  girls' 
ss.,  313,  314. 

Natural  sciences,  agregation  in, 
371.    See  also  Natural  history. 

Naval  school,  147,  148. 

Navarre,  College  of,  27,  36. 

Normal  school  for  girls,  81-83. 
See  also  Sevres. 

Normal  school  for  special  second- 
ary instruction  (Cluny),  77. 

Normal  school,  higher,  historical: 
founded  by  Napoleon,  346; 
annexed  to  the  university, 
346-347;  under  the  Restora- 
tion, 347-350 ;  course  length- 
ened to  three  years,  348 ;  sup- 
pressed and  recreated,  349- 
350;  fused  in  the  University 
of  Paris,  354;  a  professional 
s.  of  the  university,  354-355. 
See  also  Normal  school  of  the 
Convention. 

Normal  school,  higher,  147,  148; 
admission  conditions,  355- 
358;  character  of  the  train- 
ing, 353;  course,  first  year, 
361-364,  second  year,  364- 
367,  third  year,  367-373; 
entrance  exams.,  355-358; 
library,  361;  life  at,  359- 
361;  scholarships,  355  ff.; 
student's  allowance,  355;  stu- 
dent regulations,  349. 

Normal  school  of  the  Convention, 
62-63,  345,  346. 

Odo  of  Cluny,  15. 

Oratorians,  46  ff . ;  '  modern  lan- 
guage instruction  among,  213; 
provision  for  history,  238; 
reforms    in    language    study, 


INDEX 


449 


207 ;  successors  of  the  Jesuits, 
55. 
Ovid,  study  of,  in  university  cur- 
riculum of  1600,  44. 

Paleography,  in  exam,  for  dip. 
of  higher  study,  366. 

Paraclete,  s.  of  Abelard,  20. 

Paris,  a  center  of  learning,  17; 
cathedral  ss.  at,  17;  colleges 
in  1600,  order  of  foundation, 
App.  C;  educational  plan  of 
the  city,  1793,  provides  for 
modern  language  instruc- 
tion, 216;  lycees,  150  ff. 

Paris  ss.,  28,  29. 

Paris,  University  of,  12,  14,  18,  19; 
formally  organized,  22;  in 
time  of  Rollin,  52-53;  posi- 
tion in  the  world  of  letters,  39. 

Parma,  meeting  place  of  Charles 
the  Great  and  Alcuin,  1,  4. 

Paulus  Diaconus,  teacher  of 
Charles  the  Great,  2. 

Pedagogies,  27-28;  inspection  of, 
29;  (part  course  colleges),  56. 

Pedagogy.  See  Education,  pro- 
fessional study  of. 

Pelissier,  Abbe,  suggests  training 
ss.  for  teachers,  57,  62,  345. 

Pensionnats,  27,  29. 

Pensions  (boarding  ss.),  for  girls, 
312. 

Pensions,  of  teachers,  119. 

Pepin,  son  of  Charles  the  Great,  6. 

Perquisites,  of  teachers,  120. 

Perseus,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Personnel,  of  colleges,  114-115. 

Peter  of  Pisa,  teacher  of  Charles 
the  Great,  2. 

Peter  of  Spain,  Summulae,  28. 

Philip  Augustus,  14;  sides  with 
the  students  against  city  au- 
thorities, 22. 

Philology,  in  exam,  for  dip.  of 
higher  study,  366. 

Philosophy,  18,  28,  71,  chap. 
XIII.,  passim;  a  subject  of 
secondary  instruction,  290 
agr^gation,  346,  351,  371 
aim  of  the  course,  297-298 
authors  studied,  291-292 
class  in,  45;    course,  71,  258 


course  hours,  217;  in  the 
curriculum,  292  ff. ;  program, 
290-292;  trend  in,  297. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
372;  for  master's  degree, 
363;  for  norm,  s.,  356  f. 
Study  of,  137,  288-298;  at 
Sevres,  333;  before  the 
Revolution,  288-289;  in 
arts  faculty,  23;  in  grammar 
ss.  of  the  cathedral,  50;  in 
lycees,  68;  in  mathematics 
form,  296;  in  university  cur- 
riculum of  1600,  45;  method, 
295-296. 

Physical  sciences,  agregation  in, 
371. 

Physical  training.  See  Athletics; 
Games;  Gymnastics. 

Physics,  chap.  XII.,  passim;  labo- 
ratory work,  284-285;  special 
teachers,  in  Rollin' s  plan,  56. 
Examination,  for  agregation, 
343,  372;  for  certificate,  374; 
for  master's  degree,  364;  for 
norm,  s.,  356  ff. ;  for  Sevres, 
334. 
Study  of,  136;  at  Sevres,  333; 
in  central  ss.,  64;  in  girls' 
ss.,  313,  314;  in  Jesuit  ss., 
257;  in  Napoleon's  course, 
260;  in  ss.  of  the  Oratorians, 
48. 

Physiology,  in  exam,  for  master's 
degree,  364. 

Picavet,  F.,  study  of  the  central 
ss.,  66. 

Pindar,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Plato,  study  of,  in  university  cur- 
riculum of  1600,  44. 

Plautus,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Playgrounds,  154. 

Politics,  influence  of,  in  s.  affairs, 
73. 

Polytechnic  s.,  147,  148. 

Porphyry,  version  of,  for  Aristotle, 
24. 

Port-Royalists,  46-47,  55;  pro- 
vided for  history,  238,  and 
modern  language  instruction, 
213-214;  reforms  instituted 
by,  207. 


450 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


Practice  teaching,  341-342,  351, 
353-354,  369-370;  weakness 
in  the  system,  370.  See  also 
Student  lessons. 

Precentor,  of  cathedral  s.  at  Paris, 
27-28. 

Prefect,  85. 

Preparateurs,  109. 

President  of  the  Republic,  appoints 
minister  of  public  instruction, 
90. 

Presles,  College  of,  38. 

Primary  education,  71;  con- 
trasted with  secondary,  86  ff. 

Primary  inspector,  375. 

Primary  ss.,  visits  to,  by  candi- 
dates for  the  agregation, 
370-371. 

Priscian,  study  of  grammar  in 
arts  faculty,  24. 

Private  ss.,  379-381;  inspection 
of,  73. 

Prizes,  171-173,  384,  385. 

Probation,  period  of,  for  teachers, 
115. 

Professional  classes,  small  pro- 
portion of  the  population, 
383. 

Professors,  109-111. 

Program,  chap.  VII.;  a  day's, 
179-184,  App.  H;  flexibility 
in,  138-139;  of  1890-1891, 
123-124;  of  1902,  86  ff.,  124 
ff.,  129-134 ;  overcrowded, 
137-138;  of  work  at  early 
colleges,  36;  weekly,  in  girls' 
ss.,  322-324. 

Program  by  classes.    See  Form. 

Programs,  comparative,  of  divi- 
sions A  and  B  in  mathematics, 
267-268. 

Promenade,  178. 

Promotion.  See  Teachers,  pro- 
motion. 

Promotion  of  pupils,  140-141. 

Propertius,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Protestant  colleges,  disappearance 
of,  39. 

Proviseur.     See  Head  master. 

Prytanee,  modern  languages  in  the 
course,  216. 

Psalms,  subject  of  instruction  in 
capitulary  of  789,  9. 


Psychology,  in  entrance  exam,  for 

Sevres,  333-334. 
Study    of,     294-295     (included 

under  philosophy,  q.  v.),  137; 

at  Sevres,  334. 
Puericulture,  lectures  on,  97. 
Punishment,  29,  169-171. 
Punishment,  teachers',  120-121. 
Pupils,  boarding,  159-164,  165  ff.; 

correspondents  of,  162 ;  equip- 
ment of,  160-161. 
Pupils,   classes  of,    114,    164-166; 

at  sixteenth  century  college, 

35. 
Pupils,  half  boarders,  164  ff. 

Quadrivium,  2,  3,  12;  in  arts 
faculty,  24. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  pupil  of  Al- 
cuin,  11. 

Rabelais,  37,  38. 

Racine,  acquainted  with  Italian 
and  Spanish  languages,  214. 

Racine,  lycee,  at  Paris,  319. 

Ramus,  17,  35  ff . ;  educational 
reforms,  38-39;  efforts  to 
popularize  the  French  lan- 
guage, 207;  principal  of  the 
College  of  Presles,  38;  sug- 
gestions as  to  fees,  45;  writ- 
ings in  French,  Dialectic, 
French  grammar,  Reform  plan 
for  the  university,  40. 

Ratio  studiorum,  42,  44-45,  49, 
188,  394-395;  neglects  his- 
tory, 237;  quoted,  258  n. 

Ratisbon,  seat  of  the  palace  s.,  4. 

Reading,  in  parish  ss.,  28;  study 
of,  in  girls'  ss.,  313;  subject 
of  instruction  in  capitulary 
of  789,  9. 

Realien,  trend  toward,  379. 

Realism,  struggle  with  humanism, 
123-124. 

Realschule,  comparison  with 
"special"  secondary  instruc- 
tion, 77. 

Recitation  periods,  length  of,  181. 

Recreation,  164,  179  ff. ;  at  early 
colleges,  37. 

Rector  of  the  university,  22,  46, 
96-97,      121;      powers     and 


INDEX 


451 


duties  in  the  academic  coun- 
cil, 99. 

Reformation,  39;  counter,  40. 

Reform  in  secondary  course,  sta- 
bility of,  386-387. 

Religion,  study  of,  in  pedagogies, 
56. 

Religious  instruction,  in  lycees, 
70-71. 

Remy  of  Auxerre,  12. 

Renaissance,  16,  31-33,  378;  in- 
fluence, 206;  influence  in 
university  reform  of  1600, 
43  f . ;  revives  study  of  Greek, 
188;  spread  over  Europe,  33. 

Rep6titeurs.     See  Tutors. 

Reports,  s.,  166,  171. 

Republic,  Second,  74;  Third,  work 
of,  78-83. 

Restoration,  72. 

Revival  of  learning,  first,  chap. 
I.;  second,  chap.  II. 

Revolution,  French,  378;  in- 
fluence upon  scientific  sub- 
jects, 259;  spirit  of,  59  ff. 

Rewards,  169-171. 

Rheims,  a  center  of  learning,  17. 

Rhetoric,  agregation  in,  346. 
Study  of,  in  arts  faculty,  23. 

Ribot  commission,  124;  quoted, 
112-113,  156,  354. 

Ribot,  M.,  quoted,  106. 

Richelieu,  on  modern  language 
instruction,  213;  Rollin's 
debt  to,  56. 

Robert  de  Courcon,  outlines  cur- 
riculum of  the  University  of 
Paris,  23. 

Rolland  d'Erceville,  attitude 
toward  teaching  of  history, 
239-240 ;  demands  institu- 
tions for  the  training  of 
teachers,  345;  educational 
plans,  55-57;  indebted  to 
Abbe"  Prissier,  57,  62;  Napo- 
leon's debt  to,  67;  plans  of, 
contrasted  with  those  of  Rol- 
lin,  55;  quoted,  48. 

Rollin,  attitude  toward  the  teach- 
ing of  history,  239;  indebted 
to  Richelieu,  56 ;  influence  of, 
51-53;  introduces  study  of 
the  vernacular,  207;  plans 
of,  contrasted  with  those  of 


Rolland,  55;  quoted,  on 
philosophy,  289;  Traite  des 
etudes,  207. 

Rollin,  college,  150;  laboratory 
work,  284-285. 

Romme,  educational  plan  of,  pro- 
vides for  modern  language 
instruction,  216. 

Roscellinus,  15. 

Rouen,  girls'  lyc£e  at,  317. 

Rousseau,  57. 

Royal  College.  See  College  of 
France. 

Russian  language,  in  entrance 
exam,  for  norm,  s.,  356  f. 
See  also  Modern  languages. 

Saintb-Bakbe,  typical  Paris  col- 
lege of  the  sixteenth  century, 
35,  151. 

St.  Bertin,  monastic  s.  at,  14. 

Saint-Cyr,  girls'  s.  at,  310. 

Saint-Cyr,  military  s.,  147,  148, 
149;  gymnastic  requirements, 
157,  168. 

Saint-Denis,  girls'  s.  at,  79,  310. 

Sainte-Genevieve,  chancellor  of, 
25;  mountain  of,  17  ff. 

Saint-Louis,  lycee,  27,  150,  155. 

St.  Martin,  monastic  s.,  14. 

St.  Riquier,  monastic  s.,  14. 

St.  Victor,  abbey  of,  20. 

Salaries,  53,  109,  117;  of  bursars, 
116-117;  of  censors,  116-117; 
of  head  masters,  116-117;  of 
teachers,  117. 

Sallust,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Scholar.     See  Scholarship  holders. 

Scholarship,  an  aim  of  the  French 
».,  383-385. 

Scholarship  holders,  28,  35,  87; 
occupations  of  parents  of, 
App.  I;  prerogatives,  358- 
359. 

Scholarships,  173-177,  App.  I; 
at  Louis-le-Grand,  55;  basis 
of  award,  173-176;  budget 
appropriation  for,  1908, 
174  n. ;  communal,  174 ;  de- 
partmental, 174;  exams,  for, 
175;  forfeiture  of,  176,  and 
.  n.;  honor,  177;  norm,  s., 
355  ff.;    present   system  due 


452 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


to  Napoleon,  173;   state,  174; 
temporary,  176. 

Scholasticism,  chap.  II.,  passim; 
criticism  of  the  instruction 
under,  21;  persistency  of, 
31-32. 

School,  aims  of,  383-384;  cathe- 
dral, at  Paris,  17,  27,  28;  day, 
failure  of,  30;  exclusion  from, 
170-171;  leaving  problem, 
79;  new  type  of,  379-381; 
palace,  2,  4,  12. 

School  and  life,  379-380. 

School  architecture,  151-158. 

School  buildings,  151-158. 

School  day,  179-183. 

School  hygiene,  151-158. 

School  life,  184-186,  359-361. 

Schools,  apartments  in,  159;  bath- 
ing facilities,  157,  319-320; 
cathedral,  2,  3,  13,  16,  27; 
ecclesiastical,  2,  20 ;  episcopal, 
13,  29;  "grammar,"  Paris, 
27;  heating  of,  156;  indus- 
trial, 381;  lighting  of,  154, 
156;  monastic,  13,  16,  27,  29; 
municipal,  at  Treves  and 
Bordeaux,  2;  parish,  28,  29; 
private,  379-381;  secondary, 
mot  distinguished  from  ele- 
Tnentary  in  early  days,  27; 
size  of,  151;  special,  65; 
training,  57. 

School  system,  secondary,  appre- 
ciation of,  384. 

School  year,  177,  179. 

Science,  chap.  XII.,  passim;  agr6- 
gation  in,  351;    comparative 
programs,  in  divisions  A  and 
B,  268. 
Examination,     for     agregation, 
372;      for     master's     degree, 
363. 
Instruction,    216;     early,    257- 
259;    in  1814,  261;    in  1840, 
261;    in  1852,  262;    methods, 
271-273,     283-284;      results, 
286-287. 
Laboratory  work,  274,  275,  280, 

284-285. 
Program,   first   cycle,    264-267; 

second  cycle,  273-280. 
Study  of,  71,  78,  127,  136;    in 
elementary   classes,    262-263; 


in  higher  forms,  280-281;  in 
lycees,  68;  in  Napoleonic  ss., 
260;  in  the  revolutionary 
period,  259. 
See  also  under  the  various 
branches  of  science. 

Secondary  and  primary  courses, 
relation  of,  128. 

Secondary  course,  length  of,  126. 

Secondary  courses  for  girls,  314  ff. 

Secondary  education,  contrasted 
with  higher,  87;  contrasted 
with  primary,  86  ff. ;  defined, 
87-88;  director  of,  91;  pro- 
posed segregation  from  higher, 
39. 

Secondary  instruction,  course  of, 
126;  in  arts  faculty,  23. 

Secondary  s.  population,  165. 

Secondary  ss.,  boards  of  govern- 
ment, 104-105;  categories  of, 
103-104;  contrasted  with  ss. 
in  England,  Germany,  and 
the  United  States,  152;  early, 
150;  not  distinguished  from 
elementary  in  early  days,  27- 
28;  proposed  gratuity  of  in- 
struction in,  382-383 ;  selec- 
tive function,  383-384. 

S6e,  Camille,  champion  of  girls' 
education,  81. 

Self-expression,  lack  of,  in  ele- 
mentary classes,  208-209. 

Sevres,  girls'  norm,  s.,  331;  ad- 
mission requirements,  333- 
335,  337,  339;  entrance 
exams.,  320,  332-335;  foun- 
dation, 332;  life  at  the  s 
335-336;  program  of  work 
338-339,  341;  teaching  staff 
336-337. 

Sewing  instruction,  at  Sevres,  333 
in  girls'  ss.,  313,  327-328. 

Simon,  Jules,  94;  on  girls'  edu- 
cation, 314. 

Singing,  in  early  ss.,  8;  teachers 
brought  from  Rome,  8. 

Social  ideals  and  the  s.,  382-383, 
386-387. 

Soissons,  ecclesiastical  council  at, 
20. 

Sophocles,  study  of,  in  girls'  ss., 
325,  326;  neglected  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  34. 


INDEX 


453 


Sorbonne,  355;  and  the  norm,  s., 
352-353. 

Sorbon,  Robert,  26. 

Spanish     language,     in     entrance 
exam,  for  norm,  s.,  356  f. 
Study  of,  in  girls'  ss.,  326,  327. 
See  also  Modern  languages. 

Specialization,  377. 

Special  method  courses,  369. 

"Special"  secondary  instruction, 
76,  262. 

Sports.     See  Athletics. 

Staff  of  lycee,  114. 

State  and  church,  69,  73-74,  378. 

Student  lessons,  341,  367-368, 
372. 

Student  organizations.  See  Modern 
languages,  methods  of  teach- 
ing, clubs. 

Study  period,  Sunday  morning, 
177. 

Study  room,  180. 

Sturm,  38,  44;  adapted  by  the 
Jesuits,  42. 

Subjects  of  instruction,  time  allot- 
ment, 129-134;  by  classes, 
see  Form. 

Sub-prefect,  85. 

Sundays,  in  s.,  183-184. 

Supplies,  s.,  furnished  free  to 
boarders  and  half  boarders, 
164-166. 

Surveillants,  111-114,  180;  dor- 
mitory, 113-114.  See  also 
Tutors. 


Talleyrand,  61,  63,  64;  would 
require  modern  language  in- 
struction, 216. 

Talon,  colleague  of  Ramus,  38. 

Teacher  and  pupils,  relationship 
between,  169. 

Teachers,  chap.  VI.,  passim,  108- 
122 ;  arithmetic,  brought 
from  Rome,  8;  certification 
of,  29;  classes,  115  ff.;  dearth 
of,  57;  disbarment  of,  121; 
in  elementary  classes  of  the 
secondary  ss.,  374;  in  girls' 
ss.,  336-337;  in  preparatory 
classes,  374-375;  mathemat- 
ics and  singing,  early,  8 ;  pen- 
sions,  119;    promotion,   115- 


119;  punishment,  120-121; 
qualifications,  46,  108-109, 
331-332;  tenure,  122. 

Teachers'  meetings,  at  Lille,  107. 

Teachers'  professional  training, 
chap.  XV.,  passim;  begin- 
nings of,  345-346 ;  compara- 
tive situation,  352;  for  girls' 
ss.,  331-334.  See  also  under 
Sevres. 

Teaching,  a  profession,  376-377. 

Teaching  staff,  108. 

Tennis,  182.  See  also  Athletics; 
Games. 

Tenure  of  office  of  teachers,  122. 

Terence,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Term,  s.     See  School  year. 

Text-books,  use  of,  249-250. 

Texts  used.     See  Authors  read. 

Theatre,  use  of  the,  in  instruction 
in  French,  211-212. 

Theocritus,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

Theodulfus,  bishop  of  Orleans, 
9,  13. 

Theology,  18;  faculty  of,  22. 

Tibullus,  study  of,  in  university 
curriculum  of  1600,  44. 

"Tournes,"  360. 

Tours,  5 ;  Alcuin,  abbat  at,  10. 

Traite  des  etudes,  51-52. 

Translation,  method  of,  204-205. 

Translations,  word-for-word,  204- 
205;  written,  203-204. 

Treves,  early  municipal  s.  at,  2. 

Trivium,  2,  3,  12,  18. 

Tuition,  fees  for,  167-168;  in 
central  ss.,  65.  See  also 
Fees. 

Tutors,  111  ff.,  115,  121,  181-182; 
at  Sevres,  336-337. 


Universities  of  France,  order 
of  foundation,  App.  D. 

University  of  Paris,  10,  18,  19; 
position  in  the  academic 
world,  39;  requirements  for 
admission,  23;  reform  of, 
43-46;  statutes  of  1600,  43; 
abolished,  58;  re-established, 
67. 

Unrest,  educational,  378-379. 


454 


FRENCH  SECONDARY  SCHOOLS 


Vacations,  177-179;  tendency 
to  lengthen,  179.  See  also 
Holidays. 

Vaccination,  compulsory,  162. 

Vernacular,  growth  of,  40;  in 
program  of  Port-Royalists, 
188;  in  program  of  Rollin,  188. 

Versailles,  76;  girls'  lycee  at,  341. 

Vice-rector,  354. 

Villemain,  minister  of  public  in- 
struction, 72  f.;  estimate  of 
,011m,  51. 

Viifoii,  study  of,  proscribed  at 
Tours,  11;  neglected  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  34;  in  uni- 
versity curriculum  of  1600, 
44. 

Visitors,  few,  163-164. 

Vives,  37,  38. 


Vocational  training,  trend  toward, 

381-382. 
Voltaire,  lycee,  151. 

Week  hours,  137-138. 

William  of  Champeaux,  17,  18. 

Women  teachers  in  boys'  sec- 
ondary ss.,  134-135. 

Worms,  seat  of  the  palace  s.,  4. 

Writing,  subject  of  instruction  in 
capitulary  of  789,  9;  in  girls' 
ss.,  313;  in  parish  ss.,  28. 

York,  cathedral  s.  at,  2,  3 ;  library 
at,  11. 

Zoology,  exam,  for  master's  de- 
gree, 364.  See  also  Natural 
science. 


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